6th-7th May.. Button down the Hatches!

Last weekend's perfect warm, cloudy and moist weather (wouldn't it be good if every weekend was like that?) were conditions no self-respecting moth would not be flying in, so I had the trap out on the Friday and the Saturday hoping for a bit more variety.

I was rewarded with a huge range of species, most of them micro moths- taking the garden year list passed the big 100.  I've given myself the task of identifying and recording every single micro I catch, for the 'Smaller Moths of Surrey' atlas to be published in early 2012 (I'm starting to regret this decision!). There are some rewards to doing it, and I've already made a few interesting discoveries as a result of paying more attention to them, but I'll post some micro photos in another post.

First off, a few macro moths caught in the garden last weekend...

Buttoned Snout...

It's not called a Buttoned Snout for nothing...

Yellow-barred Brindle...

Mottled Pug- one of the easier pugs to identify thanks to the pale colouring, and visible dagger projections behind the forewing spot...

 Spectacle...

Maiden's Blush thats probably had a run in with a bird...

 Currant Pug...

Broken-barred Carpet...

Heart & Dart...

Pebble Prominent, a real stunner...

I'll most a few micro moth images in the near future once I've sorted through them all.

Happy mothing!