Where theres a Willow...

I've done it!  I've managed to scrape together a 200 year list for this garden, just a few days before the move.  There was loads of rain in the forecast, but I thought it would be worth trying with the complete cloud cover.  Luckily, it was a very full trap for the time of year, and amongst these were the two year ticks I required.  These were a Barred Sallow and a Pale Mottled Willow (how had I not got any of these before!).  If the conditions look good (which they don't at the moment), I may get one more trapping in before Saturday to give my garden the chance to give me one final surprise, but I doubt it.  Go to the bottom of the post for my gardens final statistics!

23rd September:
53 Large Yellow Underwing
6 Lesser Yellow Underwing
5 Setaceous Hebrew Character
3 Snout
3 Silver Y
2 Lunar Underwing
1 Pale Mottled Willow NFY
1 LBBYU
1 Square-spot Rustic
1 Common Marbled Carpet
1 Barred Sallow NFY
1 Copper Underwing
1 Angle Shades

Pale Mottled Willow

Barred Sallow

Final Statistics - Haslemere Garden:
I do love a good stat!

First trapping: 02/07/09
No of trappings: 192
Most (macro) moths in one trapping: 229 (24/03/12)
Most (macro) species in one trapping: 54 (26/07/12)
Most of one (macro) species in a trapping: 200 (Small Quaker - 24/03/12)
Extreme dates for trappings: 10/01 - 04/11

Most frequent (macro) species - Top 3:
1. Large Yellow Underwing (98 trappings)
2. Willow Beauty (74)
3. Dark Arches (73)

Most numerous (macro) species - Top 3:
1. Large Yellow Underwing (1389)
2. Heart and Dart (504)
3. Small Quaker (469)

Year Lists (macros):
2009 (Actinic) (52 nights): 160
2010 (Actinic) (63): 214
2011 (Actinic) (42): 168
2012 ( MV) (35): 200

Micro List (only started 18/06/12): 108
Macro List: 277
Best record: Striped Lychnis (24/07/12) - First in Surrey for 95 years!

Summer in Spring

The weather has been glorious this last week (perhaps too glorious, as I found out for not wearing suncream!), and not just during the day. Cloud cover has been minimal, but the mild, almost summer like night temperatures have been keeping the moths coming. So far this April, highlights from the garden trap have included...

Lunar Marbled Brown- A fairly common mid-spring species in Surrey, caught on 8th...

The Streamer- A real stunner, and my first ever, taken on 7th. Possibly one of my new favourite moths!

Nut-tree Tussock- A more expected addition to the year list on 7th, although I have only ever had a fleeting glance at one, this time last year when one landed briefly on the trap just in time for me to identify it, before disappeared off into the night...

Esperia sulphurella- This one had me scratching my head when I first caught it on 8th, but thanks to the 500 odd micro photos covered on my newly acquired Chris Manley's Moths and Butterflies photographic guide, I managed to pin it down. A common and widespread species across the whole of Surrey...

Pale Mottled Willow- It was great to finally catch the first PMW of the year on 1st, but the novelty will soon wear off, and this can be one of the commonest species in the trap in throughout the spring, summer and autumn.

Early Grey- Caught on 1st, a first for me. The name doesn't really do the moth justice though, I think it looks quite smart.



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