.............29/09

Upper Caldecote- 1x Twin 15w Actinic/UV

Conditions were fair but temperature dropped to 6°C with quite a bit of rain in the mix. That said a few decent counts for some species, still waiting for my special Sallows...........

1. Lunar Underwing- 8
2. Black Rustic- 7 Highest Count
3. Blair's Shoulder-knot- 5 Highest Count
4. Large Yellow Underwing- 3
5. Barred Sallow- 3 Highest Count
6. Shuttle-shaped Dart- 2
7. Willow Beauty- 2
8. Brimstone Moth
9. Garden Rose Tortrix
10. Pale Mottled Willow
11. Light Emerald
12. Red Underwing- 3rd Record
13. Lesser Yellow Underwing

...........28/09

After the Lord Mayor's Show really.......Only half the species of the night before. But at least I still have a few of the commoner varieties still to pick off. This year my main target is Pink-barred Sallow as I got all of the other common ones last year. Looking at other blogs, I see they are at large and even Trent Duval (We are the Campions) has caught one. This however will not curtail his visit to the 'offy' come December.

Black Rustic - Deep-brown Dart

The run down-

1. Lunar Underwing- 6
2. Large Yellow Underwing- 5
3. Willow Beauty- 5
4. Black Rustic- 4
5. Blair's Shoulder-knot- 2
6. Lesser Yellow Underwing- 2
7. Pale Mottled Willow- 2
8. Mallow- 2
9. Shuttle-shaped Dart- 2
10. Turnip Moth- 2
11. Setaceous Hebrew Character
12. Common Wainscot
13. Deep-brown Dart- 2nd Record
14. Vine's Rustic
15. Small Dusty Wave
16. Square-spot Rustic

The Autumn Almanac........27/09

Yes, yes, yes It's my Autumn Almanac! A great night and a sign that the season has well and truly started. Temperatures stayed no lower than 13°C and there was heavy cloud cover and the lightest of breezes. I've taken a few snaps but missed out on a pristine Red-green Carpet, only the 2nd record for the garden. There is a full count at the bottom of this post.

Barred Sallow

Very fresh, 1st of the year.

Frosted Orange

2nd for the year.

Red Underwing

2nd record this year.

Common Marbled Carpet

2 trapped on the night.

Grey Pine Carpet

1st for some time.

Dark Arches

The 2nd gens. are now in flight.

The full count-

1. Lunar Underwing- 14
2. Willow Beauty- 10
3. Large Yellow Underwing- 6
4. Pale Mottled Willow- 5
5. Black Rustic- 4
6. Light Brown Apple Moth- 4
7. Mallow- 3
8. Turnip Moth- 3
9. Setaceous Hebrew Character- 3
10. Light Emerald- 2
11. Vine's Rustic- 2
12. Garden Carpet- 2
13. Common Marbled Carpet- 2
14. Lesser Yellow Underwing- 2
15. Blair's Shoulder-knot- 2
16. Common Wainscot- 2
17. Red Underwing
18. Red-green Carpet
19. Large Ranunculus
20. Garden Rose Tortrix
21. Frosted Orange
22. Brimstone Moth
23. Grey Pine Carpet
24. Shuttle-shaped Dart
25. Dark Arches
26. Gold Triangle
27. Beaded Chestnut
28. White-shouldered House Moth
29. Rush Veneer
30. Barred Sallow- Year Tick

A Sallow Note.......26/09

A very surprising evening........damp, drizzle, wind and low temperatures lent themselves to the best night for quite a while. 2 new for the year and both expected at some stage. Conditions were still very murky this morning and my camera struggled under the bad lighting conditions. Out of many images I was only half satisfied with these- but over the moon with the count!

Blair's Shoulder-knot

Sallow

The full run down-

1. Lunar Underwing- 7
2. Turnip Moth- 5
3. Beaded Chestnut- 4
4. Black Rustic- 3
5. Blair's Shoulder-knot- 2 Year Tick
6. Willow Beauty- 2
7. Large Yellow Underwing- 2
8. Lesser Yellow Underwing
9. Sallow- Year Tick
10. Mallow
11. Large Ranunculus
12. Common Marbled Carpet
13. Emmelina monodactyla
14. Shuttle-shaped Dart
15. Setaceous Hebrew Character

........25/09

The recent cold snap seems to have finally kick started the arrival of some seasonal moths. The dreaded Turnip Moth seems to be in steep decline now and is being replaced by a sharp increase in Lunar Underwing numbers. Still no Sallows, but they may start turning up before the week's end. The weather is by no means ideal though with a fairly strong, gusting wind last night.

Brick

1st of the year and only my 2nd record....

Lunar Underwing

A high count last night, but more to come.

Beaded Chestnut

Full Count-

1. Lunar Underwing- 15
2. Willow Beauty- 2
3. Turnip Moth- 1
4. Beaded Chestnut- 1
5. Brick- 1
6. Shuttle-shaped Dart- 1

...........23/09

Slowly ticking 'em off with another species for the year, though I haven't had a totally new garden tick since the Frosted Orange on 11th. The weather continues to be changeable and surprisingly, other than the earlier Centre-barred, no sign of any other Sallow species as yet...........

Beaded Chestnut

1 of 2 trapped- 1st ones of the year.

Willow Beauty

4 caught on the night.

Also-

• Lunar Underwing- 6
• Small Dusty Wave- 4
• Square-spot Rustic- 2
• Flounced Rustic

Mallow..........22/09

Looking back at some of last years posts, it's apparent that there's been a lack of Autumnal activity so far. But I suppose there is still plenty of time for a bit of a catch up in the coming last week of the month.

Mallow

I would assume the 1st of many........

The full Count-

1. Vine's Rustic- 5
2. Pale Mottled Willow- 4
3. Turnip Moth- 2
4. Shuttle-shaped Dart- 2
5. Lunar Underwing
6. Light Brown Apple Moth
7. Mallow- Year tick
8. Setaceous Hebrew Character
9. Common Wainscot
10. Lesser Yellow Underwing
11. Large Yellow Underwing
12. Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
13. White-shouldered House Moth
14. Emmelina monodactyla
15. Black Rustic
16. Carnation Tortrix

Ruby Tiger

The only highlight caught on 21st......

Deep-brown Dart.......18/09

After another 5 day drought and some terrible weather, this turns up. Last night was the best in a while, though still fairly windy. Hopefully next week's weather will be slightly more moth friendly!

Deep-brown Dart

1st of the year.

 Lesser Yellow Underwing

 Lunar Underwing

1 of many........

The full count was as follows-

1. Large Yellow Underwing- 8
2. Pale Mottled Willow- 7- High Count
3. Lunar Underwing- 7
4. Turnip Moth- 5
5. Square-spot Rustic- 3
6. Common Wainscot- 3
7. Setaceous Hebrew Character- 2
8. Vine's Rustic- 2
9. Deep-brown Dart- 1 Year Tick
10. Lesser Yellow Underwing
11. Light Brown Apple Moth
12. Ringed China-mark
13. Flounced Rustic

Big Brother.......13/09

After finding Small Ranunculus on Buddleia earlier this year it was good to see it's big brother on the shed wall last night. Despite winds gusting up to 30mph for long periods, he was still there this morning for his photo opportunity............

Large Ranunculus

Not that many in the trap last night. But Lunar Underwings are already on the up with 7 found this morning.

.....12/09

Another expected Moth at this time of year, but striking non the less. I've actually brightened this photo slightly!..............

Black Rustic

Others included-

• Lunar Underwing- 2
• Light Emerald- 2
• Orange Swift

Make mine a Treble!...11/09

It looks like we're finally getting a few Autumnal species turning up after a week of very slim pickings. The trap's contents have mainly been Vine's Rustics and Large Yellow Blunderwings, with a supporting cast of Turnip Moth, Common Wainscot and Setaceous Hebrew Character. It is nice to find something different every now and then!

Treble-bar

Frosted Orange

Others Included-

• Emmelina monodactyla- 3
• Garden Carpet- 2
• Light Brown Apple Moth
• Orange Swift

At Last!..........10/09

After a fairly fruitless week, finally the trap dredges up a newbie. Earlier this week I made a list of what I could potentially get from now until the end of the year. So far I've crossed off none of them!, the advantage being this wasn't on the list. Earlier in the year I set a very optimistic target of 250 macros for the garden. This is number 217 and quite frankly I don't think I'll be anywhere near it...........33 to go!

Tawny Speckled Pug

This is my 16th Pug species this year, if I've ID'ed the others properly that is!

Others included-

• Mouse Moth- 4
• Brimstone Moth- 4
• Gold Triangle- 2
• Flame
• Carnation Tortrix

September Slump.......08/09

Nothing really exciting for the last 4 days. So I took a couple of snaps of the best from last night. I also trapped on 7th with the best being a single Burnished Brass.

Rush Veneer

This is the 1st of these for a while as well as the largest and best defined.

Green Carpet

This was found in the bedroom this morning.

Also-

• Orange Swift- 2
• Lunar Underwing
• Lime-speck Pug
• Garden Carpet
• Garden Rose Tortrix
• Light Brown Apple Moth
• Nephopterix angustella- 2nd record, fairly rare in Beds?

Lunar Underwing.........04/09

This is the start of an onslaught I fear.....last year I had up to 20 of these at a time!

Others included-

• Snout
• Brimstone Moth
• Light Emerald
• Carcina quercana

Not too much to report......03/09

Still plugging away with 1 twin 15w Actinic/UV trap and decided to do a full count. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything new last night. But tonight looks favourite for a couple of debutant's......maybe?

Centre-barred Sallow

A record breaking 4 retrieved from the trap last night.......

Cydia splendana (1260) 

Caught for the 1st time on 1st September.

 Nephopterix angustella (1465)

Again, caught for the 1st time 1st September.

 Scoparia ambigualis (1334)

1st for a while caught on 2nd September.

 Celypha lacunana (1076)

Only the 2nd for the garden, caught last night.

The full count-

1. Agriphila geniculea- 24
2. Large Yellow Underwing- 19
3. Uncertain/Vine's- 12
4. Turnip Moth- 10
5. Square-spot Rustic- 9
6. Setaceous Hebrew Character- 7
7. Small Dusty Wave- 5
8. Centre-barred Sallow- 4
9. Double-striped Pug- 3
10. Flounced Rustic- 3
11. Common Wainscot- 3
12. Lesser Yellow Underwing- 2
13. Straw Underwing- 2
14. Pale Mottled Willow- 2
15. Mouse Moth- 2
16. Yellow Shell- 2
17. Willow Beauty- 2
18. Orange Swift- 2
19. Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
20. Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
21. Cabbage Moth
22. Silver Y
23. Garden Carpet
24. Blood-vein
25. Celypha lacunana
26. Agonopterix arenella
27. Agriphila tristella

Another 5 for the year........01/09

After a recent drought, a repositioning of the trap paid instant dividends with 3 new Macros and 2 Micros. The Micros will appear shortly after analysis from David Manning.......

Red Underwing

After just one really tatty example turned up last year, it was nice to get a mint one. Shame it was off before a showy hind wing shot.

Snout

After getting one at Broom, it was good to get a garden one just hours later.

Purple Bar

Another great garden tick.

Sweeping round Broom!......

Not much in the home trap last night so did some sweep netting with the kids at Broom GP. Both of these species are new for me..........

Latticed Heath

Swept up flying during the day near Peacock's Lake......

Snout 

Disturbed from nettles in Moat House Copse....

Other than that, on the bird front. A few Teal and Shoveler, a Snipe flushed from Peacock's and a Common Sandpiper and Dunlin on the New Washout Pit.