Tawny Pinion 6/4

...........Pretty rare these days. This is the third garden record of this moth after catching two in 2011. Previous to that, not seen in VC30 since 2006.

Tawny Pinion 

Gasp! Another Tawny Pinion.......

Tawny Pinion

After Andy and Melissa of VC30 Moths took away the previous TP specimen for further analysis, I thought that would be the last I saw of this species for a long time. The previous record on 13th April was the 1st Beds record since 2006 and was only the 24th ever found in the county. The full article with dates of records is HERE

So imagine my surprise when after a very cold night with a ground frost, another 1 turned up. It was just sat on the outside of the trap and was very cooperative for it's 'photo shoot'

I have yet again retained the moth, just in case it needs to be examined. But clearly this is a different moth as the other 1 was taken to Lower Stondon, over 5 miles away!

Otherwise, the count was low as you would expect. However, over shadowed by the Pinion was my 1st ever Red Chestnut, a moth I didn't expect to trap!

1. Common Quaker- 3
2. Hebrew Character
3. Tawny Pinion- 2nd Record
4. Double-striped Pug
5. Red Chestnut- Garden 1st
   

Red Chestnut

Tawny, in my opinion....13/04

.........It was Loiue to the rescue, as it was he who found these new garden moths. After I'd already counted everything in the trap and surrounds, Louie managed to find a Tawny Pinion on the shed and another mystery Micro on the fence!

Tawny Pinion

Micro Sp. ???

The Micro in question is only 9mm long and I have no idea what it is at present......But the real news is the Pinion, which I've added to my Pale Pinion record for last year. The rest of the count (19 0f 8)-

1. Powdered Quaker- 4 High Count
2. Hebrew Character- 4
3. Common Quaker- 4
4. Clouded Drab- 3
5. Early Thorn
6. Diurnea fagella
7. Tawny Pinion- Garden 1st
8. Mystery Micro? Garden 1st?

The mystery micro is #947 Argyrotaenia ljungiana, a common Tortricidae- Thanks to Ben Sale for his identification.