October & March on December 27th.............

..........as the wacky Winter weather continues, there seems to be no end to the unusual records. As well as record breaking early emergence, there seems to be evidence of some migrant activity too. I also have a query on a possible Acleris kochiella and have included a species list at the bottom of this post. 

Rusty Dot Pearl Udea ferrugalis

 Previous latest garden record, 22nd November in 2014

Silver Y

Previous latest garden record, 8th November in 2011. 

Dotted Border

 This was a real surprise. Earliest previous garden record 21st February, 2011. All time earliest in VC30 (Beds), 7th January. 

Hebrew Character

 No need to say really, but another early garden record. Previous earliest garden record 22nd February in 2014. This is an equal VC30 earliest record (27th December)

Pale Brindled Beauty

 Previous earliest garden record was 3rd January in 2013. Another record breaker as the earliest ever in VC30 was 1st January.

Acleris kochiella

 Has been retained, but looks like a good candidate. The Winter flight of this species always looks grey compared to the Summer flight, which is often extremely pale with prominent markings. If it does turn out to be one, it will be new for the garden and only the 2nd I have ever seen. Confirmed as A. kochiella, Gen Det AM Banthorpe

Acleris kochiella

For comparison, here is an example caught in Home Wood 2nd July 2014. The strong markings point towards kochiella, though this one was Gen. detted just to make sure. (photo: Ben Sale)

Acleris logiana

A second record for the year after one trapped 10th July. 

27-12-2015- 2 traps, Upper Caldecote Garden- 14 of 11 species-

1050  Acleris kochiella  1- Confirmed, gen det AMB
1051  Acleris logiana  1
1395  Rusty-dot Pearl (Udea ferrugalis)  1
1524  Emmelina monodactyla  1
1799  Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)  4
1926  Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria)  1
1934  Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria)  1
1935  Mottled Umber (Erannis defoliaria)  1
2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  1
2258  Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)  1
2441  Silver Y (Autographa gamma)  1

Another Acleris, Home Wood- 04-01........

............was not quite as good as I imagined with only three species recorded. I was very surprised not to see Pale Brindled Beauty or even Winter Moth. On a more positive note, the twin tube trap light was still burning brightly having been on for over 16 hours! Other than the photographed we also caught two Chestnut.

Early Moth

Never have we seen so many, an incredible 18 recorded. The site is surrounded on all sides by Hawthorn and Blackthorn so I suppose it's not that surprising. It is however, new for the site- which must indicate a very short flight period. Last year's visit was at the end of January.

 1051 Acleris logiana

  This almost escaped notice as it was very similar in colour to the egg boxes. Looking at shape, colour and the areas of raised scales, I believe this to be Acleris kochiella. Even if it is logiana, it would still be new for the site, I have kept it just in case it cannot be IDed by photos alone.
N.B. Having read further, A. kochiella is double brooded and it seems only the Summer generation is white. The over Wintering 2nd generation is usually much greyer. If this is always the case, the moth would have to be Acleris logiana. I have sent these images on to the recorder for confirmation.
.........now confirmed by David Manning, VC30 Micro Recorder.

At home I recorded a Winter Moth, which was new for the year- giving me 5 garden species so far.

Warm but Windy......18/03

Not as good a night as previous and I only put 1 trap out. Our area in East Bedfordshire can be a little exposed at times and any wind(up to 17mph) seems to hamper the mothing somewhat.

Having said that, Small Quaker (top) and Acleris kochiella/logiana? were new for the garden-

1. Common Quaker- 2
2. Dark Chestnut- 1
3. Small Quaker- 1
4. Acleris kochiella/logiana?- 1

Thanks for the heads up on the Micro ID Ben.
NB....."I think this is Acleris logiana.
Andy Banthorpe recorded this at Flitwick Moor, on 5 July 2009.
This was until recently a "Scottish highlands" species. You may recall, at the Lower Stondon meeting,
that I mentioned that it has moved into southern England in the last few years (probably spread west from
Europe, rather than south from Scotland)
Acleris kochiella is white in the first (summer) generation, but more grey in the autumn/over-wintering generation"
David Manning