A Peach of a Catch in the Garden

Conditions looked pretty good last night, with entire cloud cover and little rain forecast.  It was slightly wrong in that it rained almost all night!  But, with the rain guard in place, it caused little problems, and in fact I think proved that it is very much worth trapping in these conditions (as long as you can protect your equipment!).  I got the biggest number of individuals, with 105, since Small Quaker-gate, and the second most diverse catch of the year with 40 species (140 of 55 if you include micros).  Amongst these were 13 year ticks, which is unsurprising considering I haven't trapped in the garden for two and a half weeks for various reasons.  I did get one garden tick too in the form of an overdue Peach Blossom.  Also my second Four-dotted Footman. 

13th July:
11 Heart and Dart
11 Large Yellow Underwing
10 Minor sp.
6 Riband Wave NFY
6 Dark Arches
6 Uncertain
4 Flame Shoulder
3 Buff Ermine
3 Light Emerald
3 Flame
3 Double Square-spot NFY
3 Heart and Club
3 Snout
2 Garden Carpet
2 Peppered Moth
2 Spectacle
2 Elephant Hawk-moth
2 Swallow-tailed Moth
2 Clay NFY
2 Light Arches NFY
2 Dot Moth NFY
1 Buff Arches
1 Four-dotted Footman
1 Peach Blossom NFG
1 Green Silver-lines NFY
1 Beautiful Golden Y
1 Rustic NFY
1 Burnished Brass NFY
1 Buff-tip
1 Small Angle Shades
1 Green Pug
1 Poplar Hawk-moth
1 Clouded Border
1 Scorched Wing NFY
1 Common Rustic sp.
1 July Highflyer NFY
1 Turnip NFY
1 Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing NFY

Micros (* = lifer):
13 Chrysoteuchia culmella
9 Dipleurina lacustrata
2 Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix
2 Crambus perlella
2 Bramble-shoot Moth
1 White-shouldered House Moth
1 Diamond-back Moth
1 Celypha lacunana
1 Batia lunaris
1 Acleris quercana
1 Crambus pascuella
1 Agriphila straminella
1 Argyresthia brockeella
1 Codling Moth * (incredible considering I have always put the trap under an Apple tree!)
1 Ypsolopha parenthesella *

Peach Blossom

Four-dotted Footman

Clay

Dot Moth

Light Arches

July Highflyer

Scorched Wing

Green Silver-lines

Ypsolopha parenthesella (I think, please correct if wrong)

Beauty is Golden

After two and a half weeks of no trapping in the garden, I was starting to get desperate, so I decided to take a gamble with last night, despite the rainy forecast.  It was wet, very, and that was reflected in the appaling numbers, but luckily, quality was high, with another two garden ticks.  These were a Four-dotted Footman, and a pristine Beautiful Golden Y, along with expected year ticks (plus only my second garden Purple Bar).

17th June:
5 Common Marbled Carpet
2 Heart and Dart
2 Buff Ermine NFY
1 Dark Arches NFY
1 Peppered Moth
1 Minor sp.
1 Four-dotted Footman NFG
1 Vine's Rustic
1 Lesser Swallow Prominent
1 Figure of 80
1 Purple Bar NFY
1 Beautiful Golden Y NFG
1 Garden Carpet
1 Large Yellow Underwing NFY
1 Small Angle Shades NFY

The only identifiable micros were a Small Magpie and a Diamond-back Moth.

Beautiful Golden Y



Four-dotted Footman

Purple Bar

Large Yellow Underwing

Dark Arches

Small Angle Shades

Heart and Dart

Buff Ermines

We Loop-the-loop at Oaken!

Another session out and about last night with David Gardner, and I was most excited by it, as it was at the Butterfly Conservation reserve at Oaken Wood. Initially however, it looked as if we might be scuppered by the weather, as it looked fairly clear, and a little windy. Luckily, it was not quite that bad, and the moths came, in thier hundreds! Although admittedly, about 80% of that number is made up of Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana!

In the end, I managed to see 7 new species, as well as many stunning moths. The best record came from my trap (which is so much less powerful than David's!), as two Rannoch Looper turned up, suggesting they are breeding there. Also fantastic Four-dotted Footman and a gorgeous Map-winged Swift.

The final number up to 1:00 in David's and my traps, was 75 macros of 34 species, plus the hundreds of Tortrix viridana and a load of Scorparia ambigualis as well. The final list (* is a new species to me):

7 Willow Beauty
6 Four-dotted Footman *
6 Green Carpet
5 Buff Ermine
4 Brown Silver-line
4 Mottled Beauty
3 Common Marbled Carpet
3 Common White Wave
3 Barred Yellow *
2 Little Emerald *
2 Orange Moth *
2 Common Swift
2 Flame Shoulder
2 Blotched Emerald
2 Grey Arches
2 Rannoch Looper *
2 Light Emerald
2 Ingrailed Clay
1 Map-winged Swift *
1 Marbled Minor
1 Lobster Moth
1 Beautiful Golden Y *
1 Clouded-bordered Brindle
1 Grey Pug
1 Silver-ground Carpet
1 Common Wainscot
1 Treble Lines
1 Middle-barred Minor
1 Common Wave
1 Buff-tip
1 Clouded Border
1 Lilac Beauty
1 Small Square-spot
1 Green Silver-lines

Just as usual for these outings, I was not able to get particularly good shots.

Barred Yellow

Beautiful Golden Y

Blotched Emerald

Common Swift

Four-dotted Footman

One of many Grasshoppers around the trap!

Grey Arches

Lilac Beauty, Mottled Beauty, and Tortrix viridana

Little Emerald

Map-winged Swift

Orange Moth

The first Rannoch Looper

Both Rannoch Looper

The full trap!