The Chimney Sweeper Moth

In my 1933 edition of Moths of the British Isles, the author Richard South says that the Chimney Sweeper moth is "very constant except that some specimens, after being on the wing for a day or two, become sooty brown. It is the fringe at the tip of the forewings rather than the tip itself that is white, and this sometimes extends for a short distance along the fringe of the outer margin. The moth is also known as The Looping Chimney Sweeper, in reference to its caterpillar, or The Chimney Sweeper's Boy. The caterpillar feeds in spring on flowers of the earth-nut (Conopodium denudatum). The moth is a sun lover and flits about flowers growing among or near its food plant in June and July. The species is widely distributed and frequents moist fields, borders of woods and even waysides".

The picture was taken during a third visit to the hay meadows at Barrowburn, Upper Coquetdale. It was a breezy day again with lots of movement in the grasses and flowers.

Chimney Sweeper Moth (Odezia atrata)

Barrowburn Hay Meadows (3)

Although it was hot and sunny during my second visit to the hay meadows at Barrowburn, it was also quite breezy. I had travelled in hope of photographing some of the insects that visit the meadows, particularly the Chimney Sweeper moth pictured below, and the bumble bees. And from reading the SSSI description, I had tagged the grasses present on site in my field guide and planned to try photographing them too. However, as there were not as many of the moths and bees about and the steady breeze kept the grasses on the move, both these objectives were made difficult if not impossible to fulfil. So, as well as having a very nice lunch at the Barrowburn Farm tea room, I spent the afternoon happily sauntering the hay meadow paths and photographing the flowers again.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) on the meadow edge
Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis)
Wood Crane's Bill (Geranium sylvaticum)
Chimney Sweeper Moth (Odezia atrata)

Barrowburn Hay Meadows (2)

In part one of my description of the Barrowburn Hay Meadows I said that I was quite unprepared for the experience that awaited me. The meadows were filled with such an overwhelming variety of plants that they provided a feast for all the senses. I fully intend to spend more days amongst them while they continue to flower.

As might be expected, there were many insects about. One which particularly caught my attention was the Chimney Sweeper moth (Odezia atrata), a small, day-flying white-tipped but otherwise plain black moth which I had not seen before. Apparently the Chimney Sweeper relies on the Pignut flower for its existence, it being the only food plant of the moth's caterpillar. I hope the next part of this series will include pictures of some of the insects visiting the hay meadows.

Now to the flowers: They were all photographed using my standard Nikkor 18-55mm lens and a 6 dioptre close-up lens. This is only a selection of the flowers on display. If a reader finds that I have wrongly identified any of the flowers, I am more than happy to be corrected (I am not entirely confident about the Bitter Vetch, although the SSSI description suggests it is found on site).

Pignut (Conopodium majus)
Wood Crane's Bill (Geranium sylvaticum)
Eyebright (Euphrasia memocosa)
Rough Hawkbit (Leontodon taraxacoides)
Bird's Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
Bitter Vetch (Lathyrus montanus)
Hay or Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)
Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaeodrys)
Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)

Barrowburn Hay Meadows (1)

For almost a week, I had looked forward to visiting the hay meadows at Barrowburn in Upper Coquetdale but was quite unprepared for the experience that awaited me. Upland hay meadows are internationally rare and at Barrowburn, where the grazing land is managed in such a way as to encourage these lovely reminders of a slower way of life, the meadows are filled with an overwhelming variety of plants.

The greater part of the afternoon was spent in just one meadow, taking a slow what’s-this-what’s-that walk, firstly along a boundary path and then on a steep diagonal path crossing the meadow at the start of a well-trodden route to the Border Ridge at Windy Gyle. Although I already knew some of the flowers, I still needed to stop every two or three paces to take a closer look at one I didn’t recognise and thumb through my field guide in an effort to identify it. And all of the time, plant identification was competing with photography and vice-versa.

The meadows at Barrowburn support many plants typically found in northern hay meadows. These include wood crane’s bill, pignut, bitter vetch, rough and autumn hawkbit, cat’s ear, selfheal, common bird’s foot trefoil, yellow rattle and oxeye daisy.

In an earlier piece I owned that for some time I had not given sufficient attention to wild flowers in my wanderings. The hay meadows at Barrowburn served only to reinforce this feeling and, with my new set of close-up lenses at the ready and another hay meadow nearer to home at Greenhaugh, I can see it won’t be too long before more wild flower items appear on these pages.

To begin, the pictures show Barrowburn and views of the meadows. In the next part, I will introduce the flowers themselves.

A view from one of the meadows towards Barrowburn Farm and Upper Coquetdale
Looking towards Barrow Law
In the midst of the meadow