Green and Yellow

Another fantastic cloudy night attracted some real lookers to the trap come the morning.
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55 moths of 28 species was an excellent return, and included a first for the garden in the distinctive shape of a Green Silver-lines. I did wonder when I would get this one, after finding a caterpillar not so far away last year. Some year ticks were Lobster Moth and Swallow-tail Moth.
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29th June:
8 Heart and Dart
8 Riband Wave
3 Fan-foot
3 Double Square-spot
3 Flame
2 Lobster Moth NFY
2 Beautiful Hook-tip
2 Buff Arches
2 Coronet
2 Rustic
2 Willow Beauty
2 Uncertain
1 Blotched Emerald
1 Light Emerald
1 Green Pug
1 Marbled White Spot
1 Buff-tip
1 Heart and Club
1 Minor sp.
1 Green Silver-lines NFG
1 Swallow-tailed Moth NFY
1 Dark Arches
1 Ingrailed Clay
1 Buff Ermine
1 May Highflyer
1 Bird's Wing
1 Small Angle Shades
1 Large Yellow Underwing

Lobster Moth

Swallow-tailed Moth

Blotched Emerald

Green Silver-lines

Green Silver-lines

Summer is Here

It was mad around the trap this morning. I got out into the garden shortly after 4 a.m. It was still dark enough for a few moths to be flying around, thanks to the cloud cover. But it was 14deg C and many of the moths in the trap were very active. I did my best to check them out but inevitably lots flew away as soon as I lifted the lamp away from the top of the trap. I covered the trap with a towel and headed for our garden shed. At least I have a chance of recatching some of the ones that fly off in there. I didn't try to count the moths as I wanted to concentrate on IDing as many species as possible before I lost them. I reckon there could have been 500 in all but I must have lost about 100. Even so I had 20 new macro species for the year and umpteen micros - many of which I'll have to ask the ever-patient county recorder to look at. But there were certainly quite a few new for the year among them.

I didn't photograph every species - the day is not long enough but here are some (not all are new for the year - and I don't have common footman or bright-line brown-eye here):
varied coronet


Treble Brown Spot


Dingy Shears


Smoky Wainscot (note dark hindwing)


Small Angle Shades


Rosy Footman


Pale Oak Beauty


Minor Shoulder-knot


Double Square-spot


Common Emerald


Burnished Brass


Blue-Bordered Carpet


Blotched Emerald


Barred Yellow


Beautiful Golden-Y


Barred Straw

Theres No Smoke Without Cloud

For the first time in ages, we had a cloudy night here, and it did produce the second best night of the year with 76 moths of 33 species, although amongst them was only two year ticks, and one new for the garden - a little disappointing.
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The garden tick was a long overdue, although faded, Blotched Emerald. Smoky Wainscot and Clouded Border were new for the year. Also another Elephant Hawk-moth, but a very tatty one.
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28th June:
9 Heart and Dart
6 Riband Wave
5 Double Square-spot
5 Small Seraphim
4 Buff Arches
4 Heart and Club
4 Common Marbled Carpet
4 Mottled Beauty
3 Dark Arches
3 May Highflyer
3 Uncertain
2 Common Lutestring
2 Buff-tip
2 Treble Brown Spot
2 Coronet
2 Minor Sp.
1 Clouded Border NFY
1 Blotched Emerald NFG
1 Maiden's Blush
1 Barred Red
1 Light Emerald
1 Small Fan-foot
1 Engrailed
1 Dot Moth
1 Flame
1 Dunbar
1 Rustic
1 Elephant Hawk-moth
1 Green Pug
1 Marbled White Spot
1 Ingrailed Clay
1 Smoky Wainscot NFY

The moths were playing up, so I only managed this shot!:

Smoky Wainscot

A Quad of Trebles

Another good night in the garden produced a new one for there, as well as several year ticks. Some more clear yet warm conditions produced 50 moths of 29 species, the best variety for 3 weeks.
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Just the night before I saw my first ever Small Yellow Wave at Brockham, and last night I got the first for the garden! I have only had one Treble Brown Spot in the garden before, so four in the trap this morning was quite a surprise.

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27th June:

10 Heart and Dart

4 Treble Brown Spot NFY

3 Dark Arches

3 Willow Beauty

3 Riband Wave

2 Flame

2 Double Square-spot

2 Heart and Club

1 Small Seraphim

1 Small Yellow Wave NFG

1 Green Pug

1 Buff-tip

1 Fan-foot

1 Common Marbled Carpet

1 Clay NFY

1 Buff Arches NFY

1 Minor sp.

1 Straw Dot

1 Pale Mottled Willow NFY

1 Mottled Beauty

1 Dunbar NFY

1 Dusky Brocade

1 Common Lutestring NFY

1 Spectacle

1 Flame Shoulder

1 Buff Ermine

1 Beautiful Hook-tip

1 Brimstone

1 Brown Silver-line

Clay

Pale Mottled Willow

Common Lutestring

Straw Dot

Small Yellow Wave

Treble Brown Spot

Buff Arches

Brockham leaves me speachless

What an incredible night, I don't have any superlatives left. I went trapping at Brockham Quarry near Dorking last night with David Gardner, hoping to get some chalk specialists.

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I must admit I expected there to be a few moths, including lifers, at this honey-pot site on a warm night, but I was not prepared for the onslaught we experienced. To seasoned moth'ers, this was probably only an above-average night at best, but for me it was incredible, with 65 macros recorded by the end of the night.

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In the end, I managed to see seven new species, including some specialists such as Reddish Light Arches and Galium Carpet. Nice to get a visit from only my second Privet Hawk-moth too. Plenty of pretty micros were seen as well, such as Oncocera semirubella.

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By morning we got (* = lifer):

3 Brown Rustic

2 Common Carpet

6 Brimstone

5 Riband Wave

8 Mottled Beauty

10 Willow Beauty

3 Barred Yellow

3 Beautiful Hook-tip

2 Common Emerald

9 Light Emerald

4 Peach Blossom

1 Small Yellow Wave*

7 Coronet

2 Flame Shoulder

5 Common Marbled Carpet

5 Fern*

2 Marbled White Spot

4 Pretty Chalk Carpet

1 Mullein Wave

2 Large Yellow Underwing

1 Small Phoenix

1 Privet Hawk-moth

1 Clay

2 Buff Arches

3 Double Square-spot

2 Currant Pug (as well as a large amount of unidentified pugs!)

1 Setaceous Hebrew Character

1 Common Wainscot

2 Clouded Brindle*

1 Reddish Light Arches*

3 Treble Brown Spot

2 White Ermine

1 Lobster

2 Dark Arches

5 Heart and Dart

1 Swallow-tailed Moth

1 Middle-barred Minor

1 Light Feathered Rustic*

2 Green Carpet

4 Grey Arches

1 Lilac Beauty

1 Purple Clay

1 Uncertain

2 July Highflyer

1 Shears

1 Silver-ground Carpet

1 Barred Straw

1 Orange Footman

1 Treble Lines

1 Galium Carpet*

3 Peppered Moth

2 White-pinion Spotted

1 Short-cloaked Moth*

2 Mottled Rustic

3 Purple Bar

5 Common White Wave

2 Clouded Border

1 Clouded Silver

2 Scarce Footman

4 Common Wave

1 Heart and Club

1 Marbled Minor

1 Small Blood Vein

3 May Highflyer

1 Green Pug

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Small Yellow Wave

Short-cloaked Moth

Oncecera semirubella

Reddish Light Arches

Privet Hawk-moth

Peach Blossom
Mullein Wave
Lobster Moth
Light Feathered Rustic
July Highflyer
Galium Carpet
Fern
Common Emerald
Clouded Brindle

I'll never forget....

Yet another warm but clear night two days ago saw numbers stay the same, but quality take a further step up. Amongst the 41 moths of 24 species was an amazing three new ones for the garden, as well as other great records.

Besides catching two more Satin Lutestrings, I got a Mottled Rustic, a wandering Broom Moth, and above all, an Elephant Hawk-moth! Get in!

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25th June:

7 Heart and Dart

3 Heart and Club

3 Flame

3 Minor sp.

2 Satin Lutestring

2 Dark Arches

2 Willow Beauty

2 Treble Lines

2 Fan-foot

1 Small Serphim

1 Pebble Hook-tip

1 Mottled Rustic NFG

1 Garden Carpet

1 Flame Shoulder

1 Broom Moth NFG

1 Clouded Silver

1 Turnip

1 Flame Carpet

1 Dot Moth NFY

1 Beautiful Hook-tip NFY

1 Elephant Hawk-moth NFG

1 Marbled White Spot

1 Riband Wave

Beautiful Hook-tip

Dot Moth

Broom Moth

Mottled Rustic
Elephant Hawk-moth

Marley Borders on the brilliant

I took advantage of my newly acquired generator last night and trapped at a small heathland site close to me. The weather conditions were not ideal with a clear night and an almost full moon. Still, I am a little dissappointed at the numbers got. It was fantastic however to get two lifers, in the form of three Bordered White, and three Shoulder-striped Wainscot, I eagerly await the appearance of these species in my garden, just a mile or so away. Also a fantastic Clouded Buff.

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Marley Common - 24th June:

3 Buff Ermine

3 Bordered White

3 Shoulder-striped Wainscot

3 True Lovers Knot

3 Brown Rustic

2 Heart and Dart

1 Barred Red

1 Clouded Buff

1 Middle-barred Minor

Clouded Buff

Clouded Buff

Shoulder-striped Wainscot

True Lovers Knot

Bordered White