A Dwarf Catch

I thought the warmer temps would increase the numbers of moths immediately.  Wrong!  Presumably they need a little time to hatch out - I'll certainly be trapping later on in the week.  The total of 12 moths was pretty disasterous, but perhaps the 20 odd Cockchafers in the trap didn't help (they don't eat moths, but they fly around the trap constantly disturbing them, increasing the chances of them escaping)!  Four year ticks included a pristine Shears and two Dwarf Pug.

21th May:

2 Dwarf Pug NFY 

2 Brimstone

2 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Pebble Prominent NFY

1 Mottled Pug

1 Nut-tree Tussock

1 Shears NFY

1 Garden Carpet NFY

1 Green Carpet

 

Dwarf Pug

Pebble Prominent

Shears

Sorry it has nothing to do with moths, but I just have to post this photo somewhere (the mainstream birding websites do not allow shots of nests), which was taken by my Mum the other week.





A Moorhen Mother

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!

Year list gradually building

I've had a few more common species over the last night or two - plus my third ever seraphim, which is not supposed to be common but seems to be more so this year.

Seraphim

white ermine

small phoenix

pebble hook-tip

oak hook-tip

pebble prominent

Possible Monopis weaverella