A Berrylands Bonanza

This last week at the station has easily been the best of the year both in terms of quality and quantity, the macro yearlist now stands at 57 with the highlights of the week including a Small Ranunculus on July 10th, the fourth consecutive year this species has put in an appearance, I've also had in in previous years at Earlsfield and Raynes Park stations so I'm guessing it must be fairly well established in the suburbs. A Cypress Carpet turned up on July 12th, the third station record following on from the two I had last year and the rarest of the lot (in a Berrylands context) a Blue-bordered Carpet, the second station record following on from the first in 2009.





Blue-bordered Carpet





Cypress Carpet





Small Ranunculus



Cypress Carpet at Berrylands

Cypress Carpet at Berrylands Station, 15/06/2012

It's been a really slow year so far, apart from the Toadflax Brocade mentioned in a previous post there has been nothing of note to report from the station so far. That changed this morning when I found a rather dark carpet at rest high up on the station stairs, I thought it was going to be the first Yellow-barred Brindle of the year but when I got my binoculars on it I was amazed to see it was a Cypress Carpet. A quick dash to the local newsagent to borrow one of his long-handled fishing nets and the prize was in the pot. After finding Cypress Pug a couple of years ago this one has been on my wish list along with Pine Hawk-moth (there is a small stand of Scots Pine at the western end of the station so I live in hope). The station macro yearlist now stands at just 38 species, a good 20 down on the average.

20th June

A fantastic night for me with 77 moths of 20 species recorded in the garden 15W Actinic.

The highlight were 2 Cypress Carpet, I have now recorded 3 in the space of less than 7 months, which no doubt suggests local breeding. This time 10 years ago, there was only 1 confirmed record for Surrey, but following a sudden expansion in its range, it is believed to be breeding in the county...

Another highlight was a Blotched Emerald- an absolute stunner but flew away before I could get a shot!

Green Pug was abundant, and I recorded 5 individuals, including this very green specimen...

In the way of Waves, I recorded 10 Small Dusty Wave and 17 Riband Wave. Suprisingly, only 1 Treble Brown Spot showed up but allowed for a photo as it fed from a flower...

Other long overdue new moths for the year included a relitively fresh Shears, a Straw Dot and Garden Carpet.

The Shears...

And I'll leave you to scratch your heads over this Minor...