Back to Winter?

There was a few decent nights at the beginning of the month, but other than that it has been generally quite cold and surprisingly windy for the time of year. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the amount of Orthosias still flying. Powdered Quaker I would expect, but four Hebrew Character and two Common Quakers on 17th May I certainly wouldn't.

Poplar Grey

NFY- 15th May

 Bright-line Brown-eye

NFY- 16th May

 Hebrew Character

I thought I'd seen the back of these. But still turning up fresh specimens in the second half of May.

 Red Twin-spot Carpet

.....unless it's the rare red form of Dark-barred? Apparently never recorded in VC30! NFY- 17th May.

 Rustic Shoulder-knot

NFY- 17th May

1288 Twenty-plume Moth Alucita hexadactyla 

Love these!

Upper Caldecote Garden- 17-05-13- 3 Traps. 18 of 14 species.

0648  White-shouldered House Moth (Endrosis sarcitrella)  1

1288  Twenty-plume Moth (Alucita hexadactyla)  1

1724  Red Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe spadicearia)  1 NFY

1852  Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata)  1

1862  Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)  1

1883  Yellow-barred Brindle (Acasis viretata)  1

1906  Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)  1

2007  Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula)  1

2092  Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta)  1

2186  Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis)  1

2187  Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)  2

2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  4

2306  Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)  1

2334  Rustic Shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens)  1 NFY

Trying to catch up...........

....................but failing!- it's probably the same for all moth-ers at the moment as we compress a months worth of species into a couple of weeks. As well as some sizeable lists over the passed week or so. I also dumped my cheapo Chinese generator and an MV Skinner in Home Wood over night (28th May), which Trent collected very early this morning. There will be a later post on what was found, including the tricky job of sorting through the micros. This will no doubt be done with the assistance of out very own county recorder, David Manning.

In the meantime, some bedtime reading turned up. I haven't had chance for a good look yet- but I was on the pre- publication list; I think the book officially comes out on 31st May. The artwork is of Richard Lewington's usual high standard.

Anyway, here is a few shots- hastily taken between work, kids football, meetings and all the other s**t I have to do. Incidentally, I've finally put together Garden Year List for 2012- it can be found under 'Lists & Info' in the right-hand side column.

Rustic Shoulder-knot

NFY, 20th May

 Spectacle

NFY, 21st May

 Poplar Grey

NFY, 22nd May

 Foxglove Pug

NFY, 23rd May

 Oak Hook-tip

Last seen in 2010- NFY, 23rd May

 Shears

Seven trapped so far- NFY, 23rd May

 Buttoned Snout

The very first intact specimen- NFY, 23rd May

 White Ermine

NFY, 25th May

 Figure of Eighty

Last seen in 2010- NFY, 25th May

 Orange Footman

Last seen 2010- NFY, 25th May

 Mottled Rustic

NFY, 27th May

 Pine Hawk-moth

Last seen 2010- NFY, 27th May

........Trent's Nemesis

Over the past few nights Trent has got back into the lead in the Mothin' Marathon and now has to suffer the consequences. He got in front about a month ago and this was enough to receive a verbal warning. But now with the competition in full flow, it is time to unveil the ultimate sanction. 

When it was used last year I had my best results, as it retains a lot of which it attracts during the night. As I don't do much patrolling, just about everything I record is in the traps; therefore I probably miss an awful lot.

The Gazebo

 The harvesting method is very simple- 1) Wait until morning. 2) Let Louie out into the garden with a light weight insect net. 3) Give him some pots and zip down the sides. 4) Don't let him out until all moths are potted ready for photos and ID.

                          Gazebo Interior                                                             Tramp-o-trap

The light fitting inside the gazebo is a twin T12 40w BLB tube and fitting that neatly tie-wraps to the inside of the roof frame.
Mean while, last night's effort was to put the twin 25w FUL Skinner in the trampoline to test. This would be good for night patrols as all moths end up either on the in or outside of the safety net. However, by morning they all hide in the most inaccessible areas around the crash mats and underneath. Not something I will be doing again, though it did lead to my highest ever count of Large Nutmegs (43).

 1176 Epiblema trimaculana

New for year, 18th May.

 986 Syndemis musculana

Garden 1st, 18th May.

 1474 Ephestia parasitella

 Tawny Shears

 Light Brocade

 Poplar Grey

The results for 19th May- 121 of 29 species-

• 1707 Idaea seriata Small Dusty Wave 1
• 0275 Bucculatrix bechsteinella 1 1st of the year
• 0263 Lyonetia clerkella 1 Garden 1st
• 0247 Tinea trinotella 1
• 2389 Paradrina clavipalpis Pale Mottled Willow 1
• 1764 Chloroclysta truncata Common Marbled Carpet 1
• 1728 Xanthorhoe fluctuata Garden Carpet 1
• 2278 Acronicta megacephala Poplar Grey 1 1st of the year
• 1177 Epiblema rosaecolana 3
• 1961 Campaea margaritata Light Emerald 2 1st of the year
• 2337x Oligia strigilis agg. Marbled Minor agg. 4
• 2089 Agrotis exclamationis Heart and Dart 31 High Count!
• 2092 Agrotis puta Shuttle-shaped Dart 7
• 2333 Apamea anceps Large Nutmeg 43 High Count!
• 2007 Pheosia tremula Swallow Prominent 1
• 2060 Spilosoma lubricipeda White Ermine 4
• 2384 Hoplodrina ambigua Vine's Rustic 4
• 2380 Charanyca trigrammica Treble Lines 6
• 2147 Hada plebeja Shears 1
• 2087 Agrotis segetum Turnip Moth 1
• 1301 Crambus lathoniellus 1
• 2102 Ochropleura plecta Flame Shoulder 2
• 2334 Apamea sordens Rustic Shoulder-knot 2
• 2061 Spilosoma luteum Buff Ermine 1
• 2199 Mythimna pallens Common Wainscot 2
• 2167 Hadena perplexa Tawny Shears 1 Garden 1st
• 2157 Lacanobia w-latinum Light Brocade 1
• 1474 Ephestia parasitella unicolorella 1
• 1834 Eupithecia vulgata Common Pug 1

200 Macros and Counting.........01/08

And for #200, he finally gets his Small Ranunculus.This is a rare moth in Bedfordshire, despite there being well over 20 records from 5 different sites so far. Surprisingly, this wasn't found near the trap preferring to nectar on Buddleia instead. Big thanks to Steve Blain for giving me this tip, as I would have probably missed out. I have 3 different types of Buddleia, the Ranunculus was found on Davidii 'White Profusion'. If you haven't had this species yet, why not try staking out this reliable food plant after dark......you never know?

Small Ranunculus

Small Rivulet

Another garden 1st.

Poplar Grey

Clouded Border

3rd Garden record.

Catoptria falsella (1316)

1st record.

Notable were-

• Silver Y- 10
• Ringed China-mark- 8
• Brimstone Moth- 2
• Red Twin-spot Carpet
• Garden Carpet
• Sallow Kitten
• Pebble Hook-tip

A few more recent highlights.....

Treble Brown-spot1st ever Seen 9th June, 2 caught so far.....

Poplar Grey 1st ever caught 10th June.

Figure of Eighty1st of the year caught 11th June.

Burnished Brass1st of the year caught 11th June.

Orange Footman1st ever caught 11th June.

Clouded Silver2 so far, this is the 2nd record from 11th June.

Yellow Shell1st of the year caught during the day on 11th June.

Foxglove Pug1st ever seen 9th June- photo of 1 on 13th June.

Common Wave1st Garden record- 13th June.