............30/10

Been focusing on local birding recently, with very little success. Of the few triumphs were Ravens seen 'rolling' over The Pinnacle, Sandy and a flock of 12 Waxwings flying west over my garden. I tried to relocate these anticipated treasures of the North on my bike. But after a good look around the village, decided that they must have moved straight though.

To balance this I have now attempted to see a couple of Lapland Buntings near Luton on 2 separate occasions and failed miserably. And after scoping for the proverbial needle in a haystack for over 2 hours, I made my excuses and sloped off.........going by previous records, I'll probably have another chance in about 10 years! Oh, and I also dipped the Pink-footed Goose on my home patch..........

On the moth front, things are slowing down steadily with just 3 moths.......a Red-line Quaker is the only one not photographed.

Red-green Carpet

3rd Record this year.

Eudonia angustea (1342)

2nd Record.

............29/10

Still nothing new to add, but this Chestnut was only the 2nd record this year and the 1st since February. The only others were 1 Large Yellow Underwing and 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart.

Chestnut

A mini Renaissance........27/10

After very little action over the past week it was nice to see a spike in activity. The last 2 days have seen a substantial rise in temperature and despite the wind, I managed 6 species. It's just a shame there were no new additions for the year list. If I'm lucky, there might still be a few to add........

Red-line Quaker

The Count-

1. Red-line Quaker- 1
2. Yellow-line Quaker- 1
3. Large Yellow Underwing- 1
4. Blair's Shoulder-knot- 1
5. Willow Beauty- 1
6. Emmelina monodactyla- 1

Mixed Fortunes........18,19/10

In the middle of some very cold weather, the 18th was fairly mild. This seemed to spur a few moths into action with 10 species being present. In contrast the 19th was the coldest night so far, my temp. gauge read a low of just 0.9°C. As a consequence, the only moth present was a waterlogged and deceased Angle Shades on the ground by the trap. The rest of this week looks to be similar, so spartan times are ahead me thinks!

Frosted Orange

3rd record this year.

 Large Yellow Underwing

Still the odd one in flight.

Count for 18-10-

1.  Shuttle-shaped Dart- 3
2. Large Wainscot- 2
3. Garden Rose Tortrix- 2
4. Feathered Thorn
5. Black Rustic
6. Common Marbled Carpet
7. Large Yellow Underwing
8. Frosted Orange- 3rd record
9. Blair's Shoulder-knot
10. Blastobasis lacticolella

............17/10

A slightly better night in the garden, but the forecast warmer temperatures didn't really arrive-

1. Blair's Shoulder-knot- 3
2. Turnip Moth
3. Yellow-line Quaker
4. November Moth agg.
5. Pale Mottled Willow

The rest of the week looks cold too, with N-W winds dominating for the next few days.

Cold!.....16/10

With temperatures down from 7 to just 3°C, the catch has dropped to virtually nothing. Just 2 moths; 1 Large Wainscot and 1 November Moth. With slightly more favourable conditions, I'm expecting a few more tonight....

Large Wainscot

A good year for these with 9 so far............

FT..........15/10

Nothing hugely interesting of late as the mothing season starts to wind down. Temperatures, as expected dropped to their lowest so far; 5°C. Still, I wasn't surprised when this little beauty turned up as I had a few last year. But as far as the commoner species go, I'm beginning to run out........and still no Merveille du Jour!

Feathered Thorn

The count-

1. Willow Beauty- 2
2. Light Brown Apple Moth- 2
3. Grey Pine Carpet
4. Beaded Chestnut
5. Black Rustic
6. Shuttle-shaped Dart
7. Large Wainscot
8. November Moth agg.
9. Lesser Yellow Underwing
10. Sallow
11. Feathered Thorn- Year Tick

Quakers...........12/10

An improved night with slightly higher temperatures and less wind. Also another year tick, though I'm starting to run out of 'easy ticks'. Looking at the weather, things are about to get a lot colder; so I'm expecting the trap to be fairly empty by the end of the month.

On the Vismig front, things are picking up. A Merlin through today and yesterday a Ring Ouzel, for some not very exciting. But for inland birders, these are notable records!

Red & Yellow-line Quaker

The 1st time I've ever caught both species on the same night.

Green-brindled Crescent

3rd record this year.

Spruce Carpet

1 of 2 Carpet species on the night.

The Count-

1. Beaded Chestnut- 5- Highest ever count
2. Large Yellow Underwing- 3
3. Willow Beauty- 2
4. Setaceous Hebrew Character- 2
5. Red-line Quaker- 2- Year Tick
6. Spruce Carpet
7. Grey Pine Carpet
8. Yellow-line Quaker
9. Green-brindled Crescent
10. Shuttle-shaped Dart
11. Turnip Moth
12. Pale Mottled Willow
13. Black Rustic
14. November Moth agg.
15. Light Brown Apple Moth

Yellow-line Fever......11/10

Another good night despite a drop in temperature to 7°C.  I've recently repositioned the trap nearer the house and this seems to have helped. But wheres my Merveille du Jour?

Yellow-line Quaker

Another Year Tick.

 Large Wainscot

A total of 6 so far..........

 Beaded Chestnut

The 16th & 17th caught this year.

 Sallow

5th of the year.

 Vine's/Uncertain/Rustic

This was caught on 9th October and I've given up deciding what it is. It seems long passed it's flight season.

It seems that this late flyer is a Vine's Rustic- Thanks to Andy of VC30 Moth Group.

The Count-

1. Willow Beauty- 4
2. November Moth agg.- 2
3. Garden Rose Tortrix- 2
4. Turnip Moth- 2
5. Large Wainscot- 2
6. Beaded Chestnut- 2
7. Yellow-line Quaker- Year Tick
8. Large Yellow Underwing
9. Shuttle-shaped Dart
10. Lunar Underwing
11. Light Brown Apple Moth

The Catch Up and ID?....10/10

I've had a lot on recently so blogging has been pushed aside for a while. I have however still been trapping with some success of late. Here are a few of the highlights with a full count for 10th October at the bottom of the post......

Micro A?

Not sure about this one and awaiting an ID from the Micro recorder for VC30. It does look as though it could be Sitochroa palealis (1370) any ideas? Caught 7th October.

Not a Micro, but what looks like a very late Straw Dot..Thanks Ben.

Eudonia angestea (1342)

Another new micro caught 7th October

Green-brindled Crescent

2 caught so far on 7th & 8th October.

Large Wainscot

An incredible 4 caught on 9th October.

November Moth agg.

One of 3 caught- 10th October.

Pink-barred Sallow!

The 1st new garden moth since 11th September but I hardly feel Euphoric about it. Mainly because most of it is inside a Spider. So desperate am I for a new tick that I unravelled this one from a web to find it was indeed a Pink-barred...........Is it too much to ask to see a live one?

The full count-

1. Willow Beauty- 5
2. November Moth agg.- 3- Year Tick
3. Blair's Shoulder-knot- 2
4. Large Yellow Underwing- 2
5. Mallow
6. Pale Mottled Willow
7. Common Marbled Carpet
8. Shuttle-shaped Dart
9. Common Wainscot
10. Grey Shoulder-knot- 2nd Record
11. Garden Rose Tortrix
12. Barred Sallow
13. Pink-barred Sallow- 1st Ever

............06/10

Upper Caldecote- 1x Twin 15w Actinic/UV

A much colder night than a few previous with temperatures reaching a low of just 6°C. Numbers and variety were down as a result.

1. Willow Beauty- 3
2. Beaded Chestnut- 2
3. Lunar Underwing- 2
4. Setaceous Hebrew Character- 2
5. Light Brown Apple Moth
6. Large Yellow Underwing
7. Garden Rose Tortrix
8. Mallow
9. Barred Sallow
10. Emmelina monodactyla

Grey Day............05/10

A dank, drizzly morning awaited me today and the Vismigging up on The Pinnacle was poor too! (The Lapland Bunting will just have to wait!) On the plus side, a few highlights from last night's trappings- a full count below-

Grey Shoulder-knot

1st of the Autumn, after one at The Lodge in February.

Dark Sword-grass

A 2nd Garden record of this immigrant moth.

Full Count-

1. Willow Beauty- 3
2. Blair's Shoulder-knot- 2
3. Lesser Yellow Underwing- 2
4. Large Yellow Underwing- 2
5. Setaceous Hebrew Character- 2
6. Shuttle-shaped Dart- 2
7. Turnip Moth- 2
8. Light Brown Apple Moth
9. Mallow
10. Deep-brown Dart
11. Dark Sword-grass
12. Rush Veneer
13. Grey Shoulder-knot- Year Tick
14. Barred Sallow
15. Beaded Chestnut

Pale Pinion........04/10

Upper Caldecote- 1x Twin 15w Actinic/UV

Pretty uninspiring really, the highlight being another Deep-brown Dart.

1. Willow Beauty- 3
2. Large Yellow Underwing- 2
3. Black Rustic- 2
4. Turnip Moth- 2
5. Pale Mottled Willow- 2
6. Lunar Underwing
7. Shuttle-shaped Dart
8. Emmelina monodactyla
9. Brimstone Moth
10. Deep-brown Dart- 4th record this year

Stop Press............

OK, so perhaps I was a little hasty.......When the kids came home from school they managed to find this. So an uninspiring list became a bit more interesting, as this is a fairly rare moth in Bedfordshire.

Pale Pinion

............03/10

Another night passes and another new one for the year turns up. Temperatures have been stable at around 14-9°C for the last few nights and so variety is still up. I'm now starting to 'run out' of species to see and the 250 Macro target looks pretty much unachievable at present............

Brindled Green

Well, it's a 1st for the year, but he's had a tough paper round!

 Snout

3rd Garden Record.

The count-

1. Willow Beauty- 3
2. Turnip Moth- 2
3. Shuttle-shaped Dart- 2
4. Large Yellow Underwing- 2
5. Common Marbled Carpet- 2
6. Pale Mottled Willow- 2
7. Emmelina monodactyla- 2
8. Snout
9. Blair's Shoulder-knot
10. Brindled Green- Year Tick
11. Black Rustic
12. Light Brown Apple Moth

............02/10

Well, once again the trap was pretty full of stuff I've already had. The only newbie was my 132nd Micro for the year and is the 1st new Micro for exactly 1 month.......

Sallow

2nd of the year.

 Blastobasis lacticolella (874)

1st Ever.

 Orthopygia glaucinalis (1415)

Full Count-

1. Willow Beauty- 4
2. Lunar Underwing- 3
3. Large Yellow Underwing- 3
4. Common Marbled Carpet- 3
5. Lesser Yellow Underwing- 2
6. Black Rustic- 2
7. Blair's Shoulder-knot
8. Sallow
9. Barred Sallow
10. Centre-barred Sallow
11. Pale Mottled Willow
12. Common Wainscot
13. Turnip Moth
14. Deep-brown Dart
15. Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
16. Brick
17. Orthopygia glaucinalis
18. Carcina quercana
19. Blastobasis lacticolella- Garden 1st 

Angle Shades

Caught on 1st October.