Coleophora lusciniaepennella, Stigmella salicis, Stigmella trimaculella

I went back to Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits to establish exactly which species of willow the Stigmella salicis larvae are mining. I am now confident that this is Salix cinerea. I did also find vacated mines on Salix caprea where I also found another Coleophora lusciniaepennella case-bearing larva.
This morning I found a new species for me in the form of Stigmella trimaculella on the roadside poplars opposite Otley Garden Centre.

Stripping the Willow

I had a productive hour at Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits this morning searching a couple of willow trees for leafmines. I even found a pale brown tortrix moth on the under-surface of a leaf but clumsily failed to pot it.
I think the case-bearer is probably Coleophora lusciniaepennella which is a new species for me.

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The contorted mine with larva still present is likely to be Stigmella salicis.
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The empty cone formed at the leaf tip could have been made by Caloptilia stigmatella?

Grete Herball

Fungi ben mussherooms; there be two manners of them, one manner is deedley and slayeth them that eateth them and be called tode stoles, and the other doeth not.
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These fungi were photographed in Middleton Woods, near Ilkley, today.

To see some much better fungi photographs, have a look at Dean's site here.

A Comma emerges

The long promised sunny spell finally arrived on Sunday 10th October and after watching a Comma nectaring on my Sedum spectabile I noticed another one emerging from its chrysalis on the Hop.

Strange Goings-on!

Garden Spiders (Araneus diadematus) are abundant in the garden at present and have started to build web bridges between their shrubbery and my car each morning.
An idiot moth has laid eggs on a sock drying on our washing line. Commonest things being commonest, I suspect the species to be a Large Yellow Underwing and have released the young larvae into the weedy part of the lawn.
I have just watched a Red Admiral butterfly displace a Small White from an Edelweiss flower. That's a first for me, here in West Yorkshire, but it's probably not an unusual scenario in the Austrian Alps!

Grey Dagger Caterpillars

I discovered last year that Grey Dagger caterpillars are easily found on isolated Rowan trees like this one on Barden Moor.

I returned to the same tree last weekend and took this photograph.

Comma pupates

A Comma caterpillar, from my garden Elm, pupated today. The discarded larval skin can be seen close to the point where the pupa is attached to the twig.

Chrysalids of this species typically last 10-20 days.