Hearts, Clubs, Waves, Carpets and other stuff...

I haven't posted on here in quite a while, and there have been too many moths to post full trap reports, so here are a few photos of some of the species that have been turning up in the garden trap through May, and into (a pretty rubbish!) June...

Beautiful Hook-tip (28th May)...

Marbled Brown (28th May)...

Blotched Emerald (29th May)...

Treble Brown Spot (20th May)...

Least Carpet (8th June)...

Dwarf Cream Wave (8th June)...

The Shears (8th June)...

Heart and Club (8th June)...

Flame Shoulder (25th May)

Expect a few more photos in the near future, as I don't think the weather is going to allow for much trapping this weekend, giving me time to make up for a bit of back-blog!

Like a Phoenix from the fire

It seems the warm weather is finally here, and with a little cloud cover about, I set the trap last night. Numbers were surprisingly down on the last couple of nights, but the quality was pretty good. Best was my first confirmed Phoenix for the garden, although it got away before I got a photo! A few others new for the year in addition, included a fantastic Buff-tip.



1st June:
17 Heart and Dart
4 Dark Arches
3 Minor sp.
2 Treble Brown Spot NFY
1 Buff-tip NFY
1 Treble Lines
1 Mottled Pug NFY
1 Small Seraphim NFY
1 Bird's Wing
1 Broken-barred Carpet NFY
1 Phoenix NFY
1 Ingrailed Clay
1 Vine's Rustic
1 Grey Pug NFY

Treble Brown Spot

Small Seraphim

probable Grey Pug

Bird's Wing

Broken-barred Carpet

Buff-tip

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

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...