Back in Blighty.............

.........So feeling jet-lagged and cold. But the good news is it seems, I have not lost any ground in the wine race against the hard working Trent and Ben. I've managed 3 trap nights since we've been back, with the best coming last night.

Twin-spotted Quaker

Clouded Drab

I've caught 3 Clouded Drabs so far. 

The State of Drabs.....

...............has been an interesting talking point recently as we reach the peak of the Lead-coloured Drab flight period. There has been some confusion about what is the most reliable ID feature etc. So last night I caught yet another one and decided to photograph it next to a similarly coloured Clouded Drab. So why not have a go at identifying them? There is no prize but I thought it would be an interesting social experiment. I will write a post with all the differences as I see them.........(which may be useful, maybe not!). PS The competition is not open to anyone called Ben Sale!

I think everyone was pretty much on the money....................

     Clouded Drab                                         Lead-coloured Drab

Garden Update. 23-24/03

Ok, so it's not a Dotted Chestnut; and I'm not expecting anything as good any time soon. Nevertheless, another new macro to crush Trent's spirits still further and I fancy he may already have one eye on the 'offy'.

So not as many highlights, but a nice selection all the same. 

An imminent trip to Home Wood is on the cards, hopefully on Wednesday night- this should boost the list......and the work load! 

Red Chestnut

NFY, 23rd March

Clouded Drabs

Showing the variation in this common species. They can range from light brown to a very dark purple.

Lead-coloured Drab

Yes, I know I've posted this a couple of times before, but this is a male don't you know! Check out those feathered antennae........

Upper Caldecote Garden 23-03-2012- 49 of 12 species-

1288	Alucita hexadactyla	Twenty-plume Moth	1	NFY
1524	Emmelina monodactyla		3
1834	Eupithecia vulgata	Common Pug	1
1917	Selenia dentaria	Early Thorn	1
2139	Cerastis rubricosa	Red Chestnut	1	NFY
2182	Orthosia cruda	Small Quaker	15
2185	Orthosia populeti	Lead-coloured Drab	1
2187	Orthosia cerasi	Common Quaker	10
2188	Orthosia incerta	Clouded Drab	10
2190	Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character	2
2243	Xylocampa areola	Early Grey	3
2258	Conistra vaccinii	Chestnut	1

Upper Caldecote Garden 24-03-2012- 37 of 7 species-

1524	Emmelina monodactyla		3
1934	Agriopis marginaria	Dotted Border	1
2182	Orthosia cruda	Small Quaker	10
2187	Orthosia cerasi	Common Quaker	4
2188	Orthosia incerta	Clouded Drab	11
2190	Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character	5
2243	Xylocampa areola	Early Grey	3

At last............

..........some warmer weather and some new moths. After a week of not bothering due to cold nights and blustery winds, the lights went back on on 8th March. Six new species in three nights, the best of which was last night. Thirteen species on 10th was very unseasonal indeed.........at least for my garden. Could be another good one tonight.

Clouded Drab

 Common Pug

My earliest record- 8th March 2012

 Small Quaker

Three recorded so far. NFY, 9th March 2012.

Early Grey

NFY, 10th March 2012.

 Early Thorn

NFY, 10th March 2012.

 1497 Amblyptilia acanthadactyla

NFY, 10th March 2012.

Upper Caldecote Garden- 10-03-2012- 31 of 13 species-

0688	Agonopterix heracliana		4
0998	Epiphyas postvittana	Light Brown Apple Moth	1
1497	Amblyptilia acanthadactyla		1	NFY
1524	Emmelina monodactyla		5
1663	Alsophila aescularia	March Moth	2
1917	Selenia dentaria	Early Thorn	1	NFY
1934	Agriopis marginaria	Dotted Border	1
2182	Orthosia cruda	Small Quaker	2
2187	Orthosia cerasi	Common Quaker	6
2188	Orthosia incerta	Clouded Drab	1
2190	Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character	4
2243	Xylocampa areola	Early Grey	3	NFY
2259	Conistra ligula	Dark Chestnut	1

............15/03

Another productive night, probably slightly spoilt by a heavy mist which descended around 10.30pm. Numbers of Common Quaker could be beginning to tail off slightly (a blessing) and good news in the form of 2 new species for the year.

Shoulder-stripe

This is the 1st time I've seen this anywhere and was a high priority on my garden hit list.

 Clouded Drab

For the 1st time out-performing the Quakers. This is a light form of the species.

 Mompha subbistrigella 892

Difficult to get a decent shot at only 6mm long- a year tick.

Results- 22 of 9 species-

• Clouded Drab- 8
• Common Quaker- 7
• Hebrew Character- 1
• Early Grey- 1
• Small Quaker- 1
• Shoulder-stripe- 1 -1st Ever!
• Emmelina monodactyla- 1
• Agonopterix heracliana- 1
• Mompha subbistrigella- 1- Year tick

Blow ins.....09/03

As I haven't been trapping recently due to the cold, I decided to half heartedly put out the trap. I also washed the shed wall with the 25w BLB bulb down the bottom of the garden. This time it wasn't the temperature that was the problem as a constant 5-6°C was recorded throughout the night. The trouble was more the gusting wind which was quite clearly blowing across the garden from the west. But surprisingly this didn't put off the moths and there was a fairly decent haul waiting for me in the morning...........

Yellow Horned

I was well pleased to get this in the garden. I have previously only seen them at The Lodge, RSPB.

Early Grey

Like the Yellow Horned, this was also found under the 25w BLB bulb and is the 2nd record of the year.

The Rest!

This is the majority of the haul and it is no surprise that Common Quaker was again the most populous. Also hiding in there is a single Small Quaker and a Clouded Drab (bottom left).

The Count-   key: 30w Skinner / 25w BLB bulb.

• Common Quaker- 7 (6-1) 46 so far this year.
• Clouded Drab- 2 (1-1)
• Small Quaker- 1 (1)
• Early Grey- 1 (1)
• Yellow Horned- 1 (1)- Garden 1st!

At the moment the BLB bulb seems to be a real draw. I wish I had put it on a bit more last year........

There's no place like Home...23/02

After turning up at Broom GP's main gate in September last year and realising that my key, issued to me by the estate didn't work. I knew that time was up for mothing at this site. During last year I also tried to arrange a field survey in Sheerhatch Wood. This, like many others in the area is an estate run shooting wood. So after talking to the warden (a man more suited to Victorian times than the present day), realised that I wouldn't be making many inroads here either and it's worth mentioning that the same estate controls both sites!
But Hallelujah, we now have a new site to trap- Home Wood, run by the Forestry Commission though is still a private site. Although separated from Sheerhatch by just over a mile, attitude wise they are poles apart! There is now a page dedicated to Holme Wood under 'Lists and Info' on the right of the page- HERE.

Home Wood

The trap on the morning of 24th Feb- looking west along the main ride.

So this was the 1st outing at a new site.  It was decided to start with just to drop off a battery driven twin 15 watt Actinic/UV trap and collect it in the morning. The results were better than expected........photos courtesy of Trent Duval- (We are the Campions)

Small Brindled Beauty 

Spring Usher

Engrailed spp.

  March Moth

  

 Dotted Border

Clouded Drab

The list is as follows-

1. Small Brindled Beauty- 7
2. Dotted Border- 5
3. March Moth- 5
4. Tortricodes alternella- 2
5. Spring Usher
6. Engrailed spp.
7. Hebrew Character
8. Pale Brindled Beauty
9. Clouded Drab

24 moths of 9 species is pretty good for an unmanned Actinic trap.

Cloudy.......19/02

It was very murky outside when I had a look around the trap. All I found was 1 A. heracliana. But while I was out dipping to my knowledge Bedfordshire's 1st Rustic Bunting, the kids were very busy looking around the sheds and fences. They managed to find this little gem low down underneath the trap on part of a log roll.  I looked at my records and my 1st one last year was trapped 15th March. I haven't heard of any recent local sightings, so it could be the earliest in the county (VC30) this year.....I will find out.

Clouded Drab



Same old, same old.......10/05

Clouded Drab

The Drabs cling on in this unseasonal weather. The only others were a Powdered Quaker and the usual visit from a Shuttle-shaped Dart.

Slim Pickings.....

Hebrew Character Clouded Drab

Not a great deal over the past 2 nights as the temperature has dropped down to 3°C at times. This has played havoc with the numbers with only the old favorites accounted for.....

11-04

1. Common Quaker- 5
2. Hebrew Character- 3
3. Small Quaker
4. Satellite
5. Clouded Drab

12-04

1. Hebrew Character- 5
2. Common Quaker
3. Small Quaker

Clouded Judgement?...23/03

I believe the 1st 2 to be Clouded Drab. The top photo is the form I generally encounter and makes up all of the sightings bar 1.


The middle photo is a lighter form that I have only seen once.

The bottom photo seems to be the tricky one, mainly because it is very faded. I caught 2 of these last night (23/03)and think they are a grey form of Common Quaker along with 2 browner forms. I trapped a fresher 1 like this on 12/03, there is a photo here.

The count in general was quite low-

1. Clouded Drab- 6
2. Hebrew Character- 1
3. Common Quaker- 4
4. Emmelina monodactyla- 1

A Drab night.......19/03

It basically rained most of the night, there was also a moderate S to SW wind. Despite this we had a high count for both Common Quaker and Clouded Drab. There was also the 1st Sexton Beetle sp. in the trap.-

1. Common Quaker- 6
2. Clouded Drab- 6 (photo)
3. Hebrew Character- 2

Winding up to Spring!.....15/03

Yes it looks like Spring is finally on it's way with an impressive 10 moths of 7 species. New this year was 1 0f 2 Emmelina Monodactyla found in the trap, as well as a Garden 1st Clouded Drab (top photo). The list is as follows- All in the 30w Twin, the 8w portable in the more exposed area of the garden blanked!

1. Clouded Drab- 1(top)
2. Satellite- 1 (middle)
3. Common Quaker- 1
4. Dotted Border- 2 (bottom)
5. Emmelina Monodactyla- 2 (click for photo)
6. Agonopterix Heracliana- 2
7. Micro?- 1 Awaiting ID...........

The micro is probably an Acleris hastiana, but is impossible to tell without dissection! Many thanks David.