Jerry's blog

St Margaret's Bay and the cliffs

2011-02-13T12:09:00.005Z

A walk, yesterday, with the family and the mad spaniel along the White Cliffs provided the opportunity for a bit of birding and some new lifers for my daughter, which she seemed pleased with. Having had a nice lunch at the Coastguard ( I can recommend the "award-winning" cheeseboard) we climbed out of the Bay south toward Dover, hitting the cliff edge as soon as you can. It was mild and very pleasant - Monty (the dog) was in his element of course, and spring really does feel like it's just around the corner, even though all the vegetation still looks dormant. We did spot a Great Black-backed gull (24) out to sea and a small flock of Cormorant (25). Fulmar (26) was quickly added, we had great views of them in flight, too distant for any pics though. The highlight, birdwise, was as we reached Fan Bay, since we spotted 2 Raven (27). We sat for a few minutes and had good but distant views. I'd been hoping we'd see some display flying, but it wasn't to. We did get a single photo as one of the flew overhead, not great though I had only brought the 24-105mm lens.

K was well impressed. One thing that slightly intrigues me is the white mark on the bird's underside - it's visible as a tiny mark on the pic above, but more obvious of you zoom in a bit:

You'd say it might be a colour-ring, but a quick search at http://www.cr-birding.be/ didn't mention any CRing activity on Ravens around here (or indeed the whole UK). So I'm not sure?

We also saw a few Jay (28) and the usual mix of birds.

Rose-ringed Parakeet

2011-02-08T04:06:00.004Z

During a quick trip to the sweet shop after school yesterday we saw a nice flock of 11 Rose-ringed Parakeet, in Broadstairs town centre. My daughter's 23rd species for her UK life list. They all count.

New species added to K's Life list, Feb 7th 2011.

23) Rose-ringed Parakeet

2011, a new beginning

2011-02-05T14:11:00.005Z

After a long absence I'm reviving the blog, partly as I'm anticipating having a bit more time over the next few months (I will soon be "resting" between jobs), partly because I went out birding with my daughter this morning and she officially started her UK life list, which seemed like something worth recording for posterity.

Our first trip was modest enough, being a couple of hours down at the Monks' Wall Nature reserve. This site was once my local patch but I haven't visited the site in at least 2 years. It can be very good indeed, and is very under watched. During the period 2004-2008 I probably visited the site over 250 times and took my site list to about 106, which is not bad for a couple of flooded fields and a few hedges.

Anyway, back to today. We arrived at about 8-30 and having parked the car, and spotted Carrion Crow and Magpie as we went through the gate, we immediately had a bit of excitement as a male Sparrow Hawk flew down the hedge and landed on a nearby post - we had great views through the scope, daughter suitably impressed. Nothing was added to the list as we made our way to the first hide, but once inside we were greeted with a mixed flock of gulls, with 36 Common Gull, 28 Herring Gull and 62 Black-headed Gull. We also quickly spied 35 Wigeon and a nice flock of 13 Curlew. 3 Greylag Goose landed after a few minutes along with a few Wood pigeon and 9 Starling. We then walked round to the other hide, adding 12 Goldfinch, 6 Teal, 2 Blackbird, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 7 Pheasant (all female) and a single Mallard. Not much from the far hide, just a single Coot and 2 Redwing, which gave excellent views. The final additions to our day's tally were 2 Long-tailed Tit and a nice pair of Bullfinch - once again, giving great views.

New species added to K's Life list, Feb 5th 2011.

1) Carrion crow

2) Magpie

3) Curlew

4) Wigeon

5) Common gull

6) Sparrowhawk

7) Greylag goose

8) Starling

9) Herring gull

10) Black- headed gull

11) Woodpigeon

12) Goldfinch

13) Teal

14) Blackbird

15) Redwing

16) Coot

17) Goldcrest

18) Pheasant

19) Bullfinch

20) Mallard

21) Blue Tit

22) Long Tailed Tit

Current Total 22

Moth Trap 85

2010-06-13T21:39:00.003+01:00

Not a bad catch this morning, 1 species new for me (assuming my ID is correct) and a new for year.''

3 Heart and Dart

1 Vine's Rustic

1 Setaceous Hebrew Character (new for year)

1 Shears (New for me)

1 Common Pug

2 Common Swift

Shears (Hada plebeja)

Life total: 123

Garden total: 104

2010 total species: 33

2010 total moths: 128

Pyrausta aurata

2010-06-12T22:51:00.003+01:00

Flitting around the nettles today were several of these lovely moths, I think they must be 1 of my favourites.

Also known as the Mint Moth there actually several similar species, such as P. purpuralis, P. ostrinalis, P. sanguinalis, P. despicata and P. nigrata. They're all just as attractive, but generally don't occur in gardens so I've yet to see any of them.

Hovers and other garden finds today

2010-06-12T22:23:00.005+01:00

Spent some time in the garden with the camera today.. in between the football of course.

Found 1 maybe 2 new species of Hoverfly, if I can confirm ID of the second.

This one I'm sure of:

Xanthogramma pedissequum

But this one, may not be correct, happy to be advised

Pipizella viduata

This 2 caught my eye too:

Eupeodes luniger - I like the composition of this pic

Eristalis pertinax

Other hovers around were: Myrathropa floriae, Episyrphus balteatus,lots and lots of Syritta pipiens, Syrphus ribesii and most excitingly a large Volucella pellucens.

There were also plenty of bees in evidence, including my personal favourite

Bombus pratorum - I like the diagonals of the leaf on this one:

There were several of this wasp, but they were almost impossible to image as they moved around incesantly, this was the best I could do:

Amblyteles armatorius

All in all a most enjoyable session in the warm sun.

White-shouldered House-moth (Endrosis sarcitrella)

2010-06-08T19:59:00.004+01:00

Found this little moth in our house today, a new species for me, although by all accounts very common!

White-shouldered House-moth (Endrosis sarcitrella)

Life total: 122
Garden total: 104
2010 total species: 31
2010 total moths: 119

Moth Trap 84

2010-06-06T21:02:00.002+01:00

Didn't check the trap till this evening, what with the general dampness. Good job I did as amongst the usual few shuttles and Heart and Darts I found a new species for me in the form of a Muslin Moth:

There was nice soft light so I took advantage and macrod his head and antennae, I love the complexity the camera can reveal.

I'm starting to like the results I'm getting with the new camera set up.

Life total: 121

Garden total: 104

2010 total species: 30

2010 total moths: 118

Moth Trap 83

2010-06-05T13:53:00.004+01:00

There were visibly more moths around last night, Clouded Silver was new for year and I even found a new for me species in the form of a Figure of Eighty. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo as it had flown off by this morning.

6 Shuttle shaped Dart

2 Clouded Silver

1 Willow Beauty

1 Figure of Eighty

2 Common Pug

UPDATE

The Figure of Eighty turned up on the trap later:

Detail of the "eighty"

Life total: 120

Garden total: 103

2010 total species: 29

2010 total moths: 109

Moth Trap 82 (from June 4th)

2010-06-05T13:49:00.004+01:00

Bit of a delay writing up this one. Amongst the mixture was a Yellow-barred Brindle, first for year and an as yet unidentified macro, advice welcome.

4 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Vine's Rustic

1 Yellow-barred Brindle

1 macro sp

Yellow-barred Brindle

Turnip Moth

Moth Trap 81

2010-06-03T06:15:00.002+01:00

Today illustrated why I like mothing. I opened the trap to find an Eyed Hawkmoth:

What a truly beautiful and amazing creature and new for me!

Not only that I found this little micro which I think is called Scoparia pyralella and also new for me:

Apart from that I had a Shuttle-shaped Dart and a Vine's Rustic

Life total: 119

Garden total: 102

2010 total species: 25

2010 total moths: 89

Moth Trap 80

2010-06-02T07:03:00.001+01:00

Another couple new for year, in the form of the Buff Ermine and the Willow Beauty

3 Vine's Rustic

2 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Willow Beauty

1 Buff Ermine

Life total: 117

Garden total: 100

2010 total species: 23

2010 total moths: 85

Moth Trap 79

2010-05-31T08:37:00.003+01:00

In cold and windy conditions..... I get my best catch of the year, both the Vine's and the Swift were new for the year:

6 Shuttle-shaped Dart

3 Heart and Dart

2 Vine's Rustic

1 Brimstone Moth

1 Common Pug

1 Common Swift

Common Swift

Vine's Rustic

Life total: 117

Garden total: 100

2010 total species: 21

2010 total moths: 77

Waved Umber

2010-05-25T07:08:00.002+01:00

This was lucky. Didn't set trap last night but still added a new species to my list in the form of a Waved Umber which appeared in house. This was also notable in being my 100th garden species - amazing!

Waved Umber (Menophra abruptaria)

Life total: 117

Garden total: 100

2010 total species: 19

2010 total moths: 65

Moth Trap 78

2010-05-20T06:18:00.002+01:00

Slowly, slowly the numbers are improving..

1 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Double-striped Pug

1 Light Brown Apple Moth

1 Diamondback (new for year)

1 Garden Carpet (new for year)

Life total: 116

Garden total: 99

2010 total species: 17

2010 total moths: 64

Moth trap 77

2010-05-18T07:03:00.002+01:00

Quiet again, but at least I found 2 new species for the year:

1 Silver Y

1 Heart and Dart

1 Early Grey

Silver Y

Life total: 116

Garden total: 99

2010 total species: 15

2010 total moths: 59

Moth Trap 76 - National Moth Night

2010-05-16T07:31:00.004+01:00

In celebration of the National Moth Night I had my best collection if the year:

1 Light Brown Apple Moth

1 Brimstone Moth

2 Double striped Pug

1 Common Quaker

1 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Spruce Carpet

Spruce Carpet

Double striped Pug

Life total: 116

Garden total: 99

2010 total species: 13

2010 total moths: 56

Dasysyrphus tricinctus

2010-05-14T17:54:00.008+01:00

What with the weather finally improving I decided try my luck with the camera in the

garden. I wasn't to be disappointed as I found this hover:

That middle bar makes it very distinctive, it's Dasysyrphus tricinctus.

It's not rare, being widely distributed in the UK but from what I can gather it's not

especially common either.

I did take some HD video, not brilliant, but not bad!

That is my 26th species of hoverfly, nearly all of which I've found in the garden.

Moth Trap 75

2010-05-11T07:09:00.003+01:00

have set the trap a few times recently but with so little of interest appearing it didn't seem worth posting. Today though saw a new species for me, albeit not especially unusual in the broad scheme. What's better though was it is a real beauty: Angle Shades.

2 Early Grey

1 Angle Shades

Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)

Life total: 116

Garden total: 99

2010 total species: 9

2010 total moths: 49

Moth Trap 74

2010-05-01T07:22:00.002+01:00

Things are slowly improving, 7 moths in the trap this morning despite the overnight rain. Shuttle-shaped dart was new for the year:

3 Common Quaker

2 Hebrew Character

1 Early Grey

1 Shuttle-shaped Dart

Life total: 114

Garden total: 98

2010 total species: 8

2010 total moths: 46

Moth Trap 73

2010-04-24T07:38:00.001+01:00

Things are still very quiet, despite warmer daytime temps

2 Hebrew Character

1 Common Quaker

Life total: 114

Garden total: 98

2010 total species: 7

2010 total moths: 39

Moth Trap 72

2010-04-19T07:16:00.001+01:00

Slight (very slight) improvement in the moth trap results, 5 moths today:

2 Early Grey

2 Common Quaker

1 Hebrew Character

Life total: 114

Garden total: 98

2010 total species: 7

2010 total moths: 36

Moth Trap 71

2010-04-16T07:10:00.001+01:00

Only 2 moths today, but at least one of them was new for the year:

1 Common Quaker

1 Hebrew Character

Life total: 114

Garden total: 98

2010 total species: 7

2010 total moths: 31

Moth Trap 70

2010-04-11T08:41:00.000+01:00

Just a few more moths today, but nothing new.

4 Common Quaker

1 Early Grey

Life total: 114

Garden total: 98

2010 total species: 6

2010 total moths: 29

Moth Trap 69

2010-04-10T08:06:00.002+01:00

Not many moths for me at the moment - I need to move house I think

However, I did pick a new one for the year in the form of an Early Grey

1 Common Quaker

1 Clouded Drab

1 Early Grey

Early Grey

Life total: 114

Garden total: 98

2010 total species: 6

2010 total moths: 24

Moth Trap 68 (from the 9th)

2010-04-10T08:02:00.003+01:00

First trap for a while after our holiday to Northumberland.

Not too much to report

2 Common Quaker

1 Clouded Drab

However, away from the trap, on the wall of our lounge I did find this micro, a new species for me:

Indian Meal Moth (Plodia interpunctella)

Life total: 114

Garden total: 98

2010 total species: 5

2010 total moths: 21

Moth Trap 67

2010-03-27T07:52:00.003Z

I had hoped for more but just 3 moths this morning:

1 Emmelina monodactyla

1 Clouded Drab

1 Common Quaker

The clouded drab was of interest though. It took me a while to work out it was a Clouded Drab (err assuming I am correct of course), what with it having a very different colour scheme compared to the specimen a few days ago:

Life total: 113

Garden total: 97

2010 total species: 4

2010 total moths: 17

Moth Trap 66

2010-03-26T06:51:00.002Z

Perhaps due to the cooler conditions moth number were back down again, with just a single moth seen this morning in the form of 1 Emmelina monodactyla.

These new totals reflect my revised numbers

Life total: 113

Garden total: 97

2010 total species: 4

2010 total moths: 14

Juniper Shield Bug

2010-03-25T18:38:00.003Z

I came across this rather nice bug this morning, it's a Juniper Shield Bug (Cyphostethus tristriatus). A little reading reveals that these were formally restricted to wild juniper woods and therefore not surprisingly were not common. However in recent years they have spread to gardens feeding on ornamental junipers and even other evergreens such as Leylandii - a specimen of which was within a few feet of the insect.

Moth Trap 65

2010-03-25T06:55:00.002Z

The grand total of 7 moths today! Nothing new though.

3 Emmelina monodactyla

3 Common Quaker

1 Clouded Drab

Also I've almost finished my moth list recount.. so the numbers tomorrow will be all different as not only do i need to add the Cornwall moths but I had miscounted my gardens sightings too.

Life total: 102

Garden total: 99

2010 total species: 4

2010 total moths: 13

Moths from Cornwall Holiday August 2009

2010-03-23T23:13:00.003Z

Our summer holiday last year saw us spend 2 weeks in a house in a very rural location down on the Lizard. Suffice to say we had a great time. I'm only just getting round to sorting out all the pics including the 14 moth species which were new to me - I didn't take the trap these were all attracted to the outside light.

Black Arches (Lymantria monacha)

Rosy Footman (Miltochrista miniata)

Yellow-tail (Euproctis similis)

Can't ID this one, advice welcome

Engrailed (Ectropis bistortata)

Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis)

Sharp-angled Peacock (Macaria alternata)

Single dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)

Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata alternata)

Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa fuliginosa)

Drinker (Euthrix potatoria)

Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)

Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata)

Four-spotted Footman (Lithosia quadra)

Moth Trap 64

2010-03-23T07:13:00.005Z

Just a single moth this morning in the form of a Chestnut. The good news is that this is a new species for me, I didn't see one last year, maybe because I didn't get the trap going until late April and that is right at the end of their recorded flight flight period.

Chestnut (Conista vaccinia)

These are my current moth totals BUT I'm in the process of re-assessing all of this so the numbers will change imminently, especially as I saw about another dozen species whilst on holiday in Cornwall last year! Watch this space as my Cornwall additions include Black Arches, Rosy Footman and Four-spotted Footman.

Life total: 102

Garden total: 99

2010 total species: 4

2010 total moths: 6

Moth Trap 63

2010-03-22T06:45:00.001Z

In colder conditions again the only moth in the trap this morning was a single Emmelina monodactyla.

Life total: 101

Garden total: 98

2010 total species: 3

2010 total moths: 5

Moth Trap 62

2010-03-21T09:47:00.005Z

Ran the trap on another mild night. Caught 3 specimens including 2 more Common Quaker and a first for me in the form of a Clouded Drab - at least I think it's a clouded drab. I do find these Orthosias quite difficult to tease apart.

Clouded Drab (Orthosia inserta)

Life total: 101

Garden total: 98

2010 total: 3

Insect hibernation

2010-03-20T14:47:00.003Z

With the warmer weather now with us, it's clear that many insects have survived our unusually cold winter (we've had years without any frost at all). Found today were 3 species of ladybird including 2-spot, 22-spot (my personal favourite) and the 7- spot:

I also found a couple of these Green Shield Bugs...

They are usually bright green but turn this brown colour in autumn prior to hibernating. I presume this is an adaptation so that when they're hiding away in the brown leaf litter, or whatever, over winter they're much more difficult to find. Clever biology is.

What I don't know is whether these ones subsequently turn green again - or do the lay some eggs and then die off fairly quickly?

I also saw my first bumblebee of the year but didn't see what species.

Moth Trap 61

2010-03-20T09:33:00.005Z

Ran the trap again last night and caught my first macro of the year, a Common Quaker, despite the rain. It's a very common species, I caught many last year.

Common Quaker

Life total: 100

Garden total: 97

2010 total: 2

Moth trap 60 (first 2010 catch)

2010-03-18T22:39:00.005Z

I've been running the moth trap for the last few nights with no success but last night saw my first proper catch:

Emmelina monodactyla

Moth Totals

Life total: 100

Garden total: 97

2010 total: 1

Harlequin Ladybird (not)

2009-07-29T20:39:00.003+01:00

The Harelquin Ladybird is an invasive alien species that arrived in the UK a few years ago. It's of particular concern because it is highly competitive with native species for prey (e.g aphids) and is also known to regard native ladybird species as prey so will consume them directly. I first saw this species in our garden in 2006. By 2007 the numbers were up and last year we were inundated. I didn't make systematic counts, but there must easily have been 100 larvae at any one time. It seemed that the Harlequin had taken over our garden. This year though... I've seen 1 or 2 and no more and they were only adults, i haven't seen any larvae, not as yet anyway. Not only that but there are plenty of 7 spots around, and I've seen orange, 10 spot and 22 spot. So what's happened? Is it just our garden, or is this more widespread? And why? The only reason I can think of is maybe the cold weather over the winter - did that kill 'em all off? Maybe something else is eating them. I don't know. Anybody else seen this? Or are they just as common as last year?

Moth trap 59

2009-07-27T06:27:00.002+01:00

Another very average catch today, nothing new. Perhaps the presence of 3 Marbled Green the most notable.

Large yellow Underwing 4

Riband Wave 1

Bee Moth 1

Common Wainscot 1

Dark Arches 4

Dot Moth 2

Common Rustic 4

Least carpet 1

Shuttle-shaped Dart 2

Varied Coronet 2

Marbled Green 3

Moth Totals

Total species 100 (97 in garden)

Total Moths 1081

Some decent insects in the garden today....

2009-07-26T22:24:00.003+01:00

Volucella inanis - another cracking member of the genus Volucella

Common Darter, there was also a much larger dragonfly around, maybe a Hawker, but it never came lower than about 20 feet above my head!

Common Blue - Only the second time I've seen this species in the garden

Holly Blue - this one, on the other hand, are very common around these parts

Moth trap 58

2009-07-26T07:26:00.002+01:00

Back to more normal service with a total of 14 moths this morning, although no new macros. There were quite a few non-de-script micros that I didn't photograph.

Marbled Green 1

Cabbage Moth 1

Dot Moth 1

large Yellow Underwing 1

Dark Arches 2

Heart and Dart 1

Shuttle-shaped dart 1

Pale Mottled Willow 1

Buff Ermine 1

Silver Y 1

Endotricha flammealis 1

Small Magpie 1

Mother of Pearl 1

Moth Totals

Total species 100 (97 in garden)

Total Moths 1056

Moth trap 57

2009-07-25T06:32:00.002+01:00

A very low catch this morning, just 5 moths in total

Dot Moth 1

Buff Ermine 2

Large Yellow Underwing 1

Dark Arches 1

In addition 1 butterfly, a Painted lady - I'm assuming one of the progeny from the huge influx earlier in the year. It looked very fresh.

Moth Totals

Total species 100 (97 in garden)

Total Moths 1042

Moth Trap 56

2009-07-23T06:25:00.002+01:00

A modest catch this morning, but one new species for this list taking me to 100 species.... assuming I've counted correctly. Probably need to do a check on what I've seen.

Large Yellow Underwing 5

Cabbage Moth 1

Lesser Broad-bordered yellow underwing 1

Small magpie 1

Silver Y 2

Shuttle-shaped dart 1

Riband Wave 1

Dun Bar 3

orange micro 1

Lime-speck Pug 1

Sycamore 1 (new !)

Bright-line Brown-eye 1

Emmelina Monodactyla 1

Phlyctaenia coronata 1

Pammene aurita 1

Sycamore

Moth Totals

Total species 100 (97 in garden)

Total Moths 1037

Moth Trap 55

2009-07-20T06:29:00.003+01:00

A very reduced catch this morning. I found the trap on it's side, with the lid half off. As a consequence only 4 moths found - although a couple of good ones including 1 new for me. I'm assuming it was the wind, could've been a cat though..

Dun Bar 1

Marbled Green 1

Common Pug 1

Emmelina monodactyla (new !)

Emmelina monodactyla - very common, but still a first for me. Given that they feed on Bindweed, I'm surprised there aren't a lot more in my garden

Moth Totals

Total species 99 (96 in garden)

Total Moths 1015

Moth Trap 54

2009-07-19T08:22:00.003+01:00

Another windy night and another catch similar to those recently. Either 1 or 2 new species, depending on IDs

Riband Wave 1

Least Carpet 2

Small magpie 3

Scalloped Oak 1

Common Footman 1

Buff Ermine 1

Dark arches 5

Bee Moth 1

Bright-line Brown-eye 3

Double striped Pug 1

Dun Bar 1

Large yellow underwing 1

Common wainscot 1

Dot Moth 3

Swallowtailed Moth 1

Common Rustic 2 TBC (new !)

Common Rustic

Moth Totals

Total species 98 (95 in garden)

Total Moths 1011

MothTrap 54

2009-07-18T07:24:00.002+01:00

Slimmer pickings today after a blustery night. Perhaps of most significance was the absence of Heart and Dart. This is the first time since May 28th that this species hasn't come to the trap.

Buff Ermine 1

Dark Arches 4

Bright-line Brown-eye 2

Silver Y 1

Dot Moth 2

Cabbage Moth 1

Scalloped Oak 1

Common Footman 1

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 1

Mother of Pearl 1

Moth Totals

Total species 97 (94 in garden)

Total Moths 983

Moth Trap 53

2009-07-16T06:40:00.003+01:00

Another good mix of moths in the trap, plus a couple of new species:

Heart and Dart 3

Large Yellow Underwing 1

Lattice Heath 2

Bright-line Brown-eye 4

Dot Moth 4

Dark Arches 10

Riband Wave 1

Poplar Grey 1

Least carpet 1

Small Magpie 2

Common Footman 3

Marbled Green 1 (new !)

Swallowtailed Moth 1

Codling Moth Cydia pomonella 1 (new !)

Least Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 1 (new !)

Marbled Green

Swallowtailed Moth

Least Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing - fairly sure this is corect

Codling Moth Cydia pomonella

Moth Totals

Total species 97 (94 in garden)

Total Moths 968

Moth trap 52

2009-07-13T06:43:00.002+01:00

A smaller and less diverse catch this morning with no new species.

Heart and Dart 1
Dot Moth 2
Flame 1
Dark Arches 10
Common Footman 1
Small magpie 3
Common Wainscot 2
Bright-line Brown-eye 5

Moth Totals

Total species 94 (91 in garden)

Total Moths 931

Moth Trap 51

2009-07-11T08:08:00.003+01:00

Another good catch, 37 moths in total and 7 new species

Large Yellow Underwing 1

Heart and dart 3

Heart and Club 2

Bright-line brown-eye 4

Light arches 1

Dark Arches 8

Uncertain 2

Dot Moth 1

Mother of Pearl 1 (new !)

Mottled Beauty 1

Spectacle 1 (new !)

Endotricha flammealis 1 (new !)

Common Footman 3

Lime speck Pug 1

Riband Wave 3

Small Magpie 1

Grey Dagger 1

Small Fan-footed wave 1 (new !)

Acleris forsskaleana 1 (new !)

Toadflax Brocade 1

Marbled Beauty 1 (new)

Mother of Pearl - a lovely moth

Spectacle

Endotricha flammealis

Small Fan-footed wave

Acleris forsskaleana - a cracker

Marbled Beauty

Toadflax Brocade

Moth Counts

Total Species 94 (91 in garden)

Total moths 906

Moth Trap 50

2009-07-05T06:21:00.002+01:00

Another good catch (well for my modest set up) in somewhat damp and overcast conditions this morning. For the first time in a long time Heart and Dart was not the most abundant moth in the trap, that honour went to the Common Footman. There were 2 new ones for me and a second Campion.

Common Footman 10

Heart and Dart 6

Campion 1

Uncertain 2

Buff Ermine 1

Riband Wave 3

Peppered Moth 1

Clouded Silver 1

Dark Arches 1

Scalloped Oak 1

Campion 1

Poplar Grey 1 (new !)

Cabbage moth 1 (new !)

Phlyctaenia coronata 1

Diamondback 3

Chrysoteuchia culmella 3

Poplar Grey

Cabbage Moth

Moth Counts

Total Species 88 (85 in garden)

Total moths 867

Phlyctaenia coronata

2 new moths

2009-07-04T18:58:00.002+01:00

Whilst out and about in the garden I managed to find an additional 2 moths that were presumably attracted to the trap last night. I wonder how many others I miss hidden away somewhere that I don't see?

Brown tail - surely the hairiest of the moths?

Grey Dagger - nice one

Moth Counts

Total Species 86 (83 in garden)

Total moths 830

Moth Trap 49

2009-07-04T07:21:00.002+01:00

A really nice moth was around the trap last night in the form of a Swallow-tailed Moth, a real beauty and a new one for me. A pity I didn't get a photo as it was nowhere to be seen this morning. Otherwise somewhat of the usual mix, with a couple of new species although I can't be sure of IDs at the moment.

Heart and dart 5

Burnished Brass 1

Riband Wave 4

Common Footman 5

Dark Arches 4

Light Arches 1

Heart and Club 1

Bright-line Brown-eye 2

Light Brown Apple Moth 1

Dot Moth 1

Large Yellow Udnerwing 1

Uncertain 1

Double Square Spot 2

Common Wainscot 1

Currant Pug 1 - (new !) but TBC

TBD 1 - (new !)

Swallow-tailed Moth 1 (new !)

Currant Pug - possible, quite worn so advice welcome

Can't ID this one at all :-(

Also found this on the trap, a 10 spot Ladybird, a new species for the garden and me

Moth Counts

Total Species 84 (81 in garden)

Total moths 828

Moth Trap 48

2009-07-01T22:01:00.002+01:00

Didn't get time to write up the moth catch this morning, so here it is now, a little delayed.

Heart and darts now down to 5 very tired looking individuals, they can't have long left. Otherwise it was 1 new species in the form of a Common Wainscot and the usual recent mix.

Heart and Dart 5

Heart and club 1

Buff Ermine 2

Least Carpet 1

Large Yellow Underwing 2

Uncertain 4

Dark Arches 5

Bright-line Brown-eye 2

Dot Moth 1

Common Wainscot 1 (new !)

Garden Pebble 1

Small magpie 1

Crambus pascuella 3

Common Wainscot

Moth Counts

Total Species 81 (78 in garden)

Total moths 795

Moth Trap 47

2009-06-30T07:03:00.002+01:00

My Heart and Dart numbers continue to fall, just 10 today. Otherwise 26 moths in total including 2 new species.

Heart and Dart 10

Heart and Club 3

Dark Arches 1

Common Footman 1

L-Album Wainscot 1

Setaceous Hebrew Character 1

Lime Speck Pug 1

Riband Wave 4

Scalloped Oak 1 (new !)

Uncertain 1

Phyctaenia coronata 1 (new !)

Diamondback 1

Scalloped Oak

Phlyctaenia coronata

Moth Counts

Total Species 80 (77 in garden)

Total moths 766

Moth trap 46

2009-06-29T06:58:00.002+01:00

Not quite so many moths as recently, but still a good catch and 2 new ones for me. Also, 5 Common Footman - a very attractive species.

Heart and Dart 20

Heart and Club 5

Large Yellow Underwing 2

Uncertain 1

Common Footman 5

Riband Wave 1

Dark arches 1

Light Arches 1

Brown-line Bright-eye 2

Lime speck Pug 1

Least Carpet 1 (new !)

Treble Lines 1

Dun Bar 1 (new !)

Least Carpet

Dun Bar

Moth Counts

Total Species 78 (75 in garden)

Total moths 739

Treble Brown Spot

2009-06-27T20:07:00.002+01:00

I found this new moth for me on the wall of the kitchen this afternoon, not especially rare, but a nice one all the same

Treble Brown Spot

Moth Counts

Total Species 76 (73 in garden)

Total moths 702

Moth Trap 45

2009-06-27T07:44:00.003+01:00

For some reason several of the moths flew off as i opened the trap this morning, so I may have missed a few, still lots of variety and some new ones so I shouldn't complain. What is clear is that the numbers of Heart and Darts are going down, just 22 this morning and many look in bad shape!

Heart and Dart 22

Heart and Club 5

Large Yellow Underwing 1

Buff Ermine 1

Clouded Silver 1

Dot Moth 1

Riband Wave 3 (new !)

Burnished Brass 1 (new !)

Common Footman 2

Minor sp 5

Mottled Pug 1

Garden carpet 1

Bright Line Brown Eye 2

Uncertain 1 (new !)

Cnephasia sp 1 (new !)

Eudonia pallida 1 (new !)

Micro TBD 1 (new !)

Diamondback 1

Apple Ermine 3 (new !)

Nutmeg 1 (new !)

Riband Wave

TBD

Burnished Brass - fabulous!

Uncertain

Eudonia pallida

Micro TBD

Cnephasia

Apple Ermine

Moth Counts

Total Species 75 (72 in garden)

Total moths 701

Moth trap 44

2009-06-26T07:09:00.003+01:00

Lots of moths - 61 in total including 9 new species - , some of which I haven't yet IDed

Common Marbled Carpet 1

Common Footman 2 (new !)

Heart and Dart 35

Large Yellow Underwing 3

The Flame 1

Minor sp 3

Light Arches 1

Dark Arches 4

Bright line brown eye 1

Buff Ermine 1

Common Emerald 1 (new !)

Poplar Hawkmoth 1 (new !)

L-album Wainscot 1 (new !)

Clouded Silver 1

Marbled Beauty 1 (new !) - but not sure at all

Double Square-spot 1 (new !) - but not 100%

Light Brown apple moth 1

Micros TBD 3

Common Footman

Common Emerald - sorry about the poor photo

Poplar Hawkmoth - really pleased to get a hawkmoth at last

L-album Wainscot - quire rare this one, but fairly sure of ID

Marbled Beauty- but not sure at all

Double Square-spot

Crambus pascuella

Pammene aurita - what a beauty

Chrysoteuchia culmella

Oh, and water boatman sp

Moth Counts

Total Species 68 (65 in garden)

Total moths 647

Moth trap 43

2009-06-24T06:21:00.002+01:00

After missing a few nights for one reason or another the old trap was run again last night, 60 caught and 2 new species

Willow beauty 1

Common Marbled Carpet 1

Heart and Dart 36

Large Yellow Underwing 4

Dot Moth 1 (new !)

Light Arches 1

Dark Arches 7

Minor sp 5

Pale Mottled Willow 2

Small Magpie 2 (new !)

Dot Moth ((Melanchra persicareae)

Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata)

Moth Counts

Total Species 59 (56 in garden)

Total moths 586

Six-spot Burnet (part 2)

2009-06-22T20:06:00.004+01:00

There are still lots of Six-spot Burnets on the roadside verge where I go for my lunch time walk. they've spread out now, along a stretch of several hundred meters, although most remain where I first saw them. It'll be interesting to see if the numbers increase next year, they seem to be doing well at the moment.

This is an image I caught on the old iPhone, not bad quality? Note the imaginatively named Swollen-thighed Beetle

There are also plenty of Cinnabar caterpillars feeding on the ragwort.

The final sighting of interest, although I didn't get a picture so can't be sure, but I'm fairly certain I saw a new hoverfly for me in the form of Helophilus trivittatus. This species looks superficially similar to the commoner H.pendulus with the thoracic stripes, but is larger, paler with a noticeably longer abdomen. Pretty sure it was one of these, but I'll try and get a picture all the same.

Moth Trap 42

2009-06-20T09:17:00.002+01:00

So this is getting silly. 62 Heart and Dart moths in the trap this morning, plus quite a few others including a second Toadflax Brocade.

Heart and Dart 62

Lime speck pug 1

Toadflax Brocade 1

Minor sp 4

Common Marbled Carpet 1

Light Arches 3

Pale Mottled willow 1

Large Yellow Underwing 3

Setaceous Hebrew Character 1

Clouded Silver 1

Moth totals

Total Species 57 (54 in garden)

Total moths 526

Moth Trap 41

2009-06-19T06:24:00.003+01:00

I hadn't set the trap for a few days, but last night it was up once more. This morning revealed 40 moths, a new record, the bulk though being Heart and Darts.

Heart and Dart 30

Large Yellow Underwing 2

Common Marbled Carpet 1

Mottle Pug 2

Dark Arches 2 (new !)

Light Arches 1

Setaceous Hebrew Character 1

Coronet 1

Dusky Brocade 1

Dark Arches (Apamea monoglypha) - farily sure this is correct

Dusky Brocade (Apamea remissa)

Moth totals

Total Species 57 (54 in garden)

Total moths 448

Moth Trap 40

2009-06-15T06:41:00.003+01:00

I had hoped for more this morning after a still warm night, but my catch was much the same as for some time now:

Heart and dart 11

Pale Mottled Willow 1

Minor sp 3

Mottled Pug 3

Lime speck pug 1

Large Yellow Underwing 3

Diamondback 1

Lozotaenia forsterana 1

Light Brown Apple Moth 3

Silver Y 1

Moth totals

Total Species 56 (53 in garden)

Total moths 409

Moth Trap 39

2009-06-13T09:28:00.003+01:00

Quite a few moths this morning, but yet again no new species.

Heart and dart 19

Shuttle-shaped Dart 1

The Flame 1

Willow beauty 1

Pale Mottled Willow 2

Buff Ermine 1

Garden Carpet 1

Moth totals

Total Species 56 (53 in garden)

Total moths 382

Moth trap 38

2009-06-12T06:34:00.002+01:00

Another damp night, when will it end? A few moths still attracted to the trap, 14 in total

Heart and Dart 6

Brimstone Moth 1

Minor sp 1

TBD 1

Pug sp 2

Lime speck pug 1

Buff Ermine 1

Light Emerald 1

Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)

Moth totals

Total Species 56 (53 in garden)

Total moths 357

Moth Trap 37

2009-06-10T06:29:00.002+01:00

After having missed yesterday due to the heavy rain the trap was back up and running last night. 11 moths, but nothing new

Common Swift 2

Lime-speck Pug 1

Green Pug 1

Heart and Dart 2

Large Yellow Underwing 3

Moth totals

Total Species 56 (53 in garden)

Total moths 344

Moth trap 36

2009-06-08T06:58:00.003+01:00

All change in the trap today, 2 new species and Heart and Darts much reduced, only 9 moths in total.

Heart and Dart 2

Common Marbled Carpet 2

Garden carpet 1

Spectacle 1 (new !)

Pale Mottled Willow 2

Light Arches 1 (new !)

Light Arches (Apamea lithoxylaea)

Dark Spectacle (Abrostola triplasia)

Moth totals

Total Species 56 (53 in garden)

Total moths 334

Painted Ladies

2009-06-07T19:40:00.002+01:00

After a gap of several days, Painted Ladies were back in the garden today, up to six being present, actively feeding on the Ceonothus and the Sweet Williams.

Using the old MP65mm lens I managed to capture some close ups:

Moth trap 35

2009-06-07T08:20:00.002+01:00

19 moths this morning, but nothing new and very similar to the past few days

Heart and Dart 13

Pale Mottled Willow 1

Shuttle-shaped Dart 1

Common Marbled Carpet 1

Vine's Rustic 1

Light Emerald 1

Silver Y 1

Moth totals

Total Species 54 (51 in garden)

Total moths 325

Moth trap 34

2009-06-06T07:05:00.002+01:00

21 moths this morning including a new micro

Heart and Dart 9

Pale Mottled Willow 4

Shuttle-shaped Dart 2

Buff Ermine 1

Green Pug 1

Large Yellow Underwing 1

Common Marbled Carpet 1

Flame Shoulder 1

Celypha striana 1 (new !)

Celypha striana (fairly sure of this)

Moth totals

Total Species 54 (51 in garden)

Total moths 306

Moth trap 33

2009-06-05T06:46:00.002+01:00

In rainy conditions the trap revealed 25 moths (new record) this morning, but nothing new.

Heart and Dart 16

Light Emerald 2

Common Marbled Carpet 2

Shuttle-shaped Dart 1

Flame Shoulder 2

Rustic Shoulder Knot 1

Treble lines 1

Moth totals

Total Species 53 (50 in garden)

Total moths 285

Moth Trap 32

2009-06-04T06:58:00.002+01:00

A crowded trap this morning, by my standards anyway, although nearly all of the same species! Those Heart and Darts just keep on coming. 21 moths in total (new record) , 2 new species.

Heart and Dart 14

Heart and club 1

Buff Ermine 2 (new !)

Common Marbled Carpet 1

Setaceous Hebrew Character 1

Shuttle-shaped Dart 1

The Flame 1 (new !)

Buff Ermine (Spilosoma luteum)

The Flame (Axilia putris)

Moth totals

Total Species 53 (50 in garden)

Total moths 260

Six-Spot Burnet(s)

2009-06-03T20:15:00.003+01:00

I was out on my usual walk today. As I walked along a bright red and black moth caught my eye and from a distance I assumed it was a cinnabar of which I've seen a few over the past few weeks. On closer examination though it clearly wasn't a cinnabar - spots on the wing, not a stripe. I suspected, and later confirmed that it was a 6-spot Burnet, the commonest of the Burnets . That wasn't the end though because as I walked on over the next 10 yards or so I counted another 30 or so of these moths lounging on the various flower heads. I did this walk yesterday, and I didn't spot any of these, so I'm guessing they have hatched en masse in the last 24 hours. The 6-spot was larger than I expected, with impressive antennae! I was very happy with my find - not bad for a roadside verge.

Moth totals

Total Species 51 (48 in garden)

Total moths 239

Moth Trap 31

2009-06-03T06:41:00.003+01:00

Quieter on the moth front overnight, 13 moths and just 1 new one

Heart and Dart 4

Pale Mottled Willow 2

Minor sp 1

Light Emerald 1

Setaceous Hebrew Character 1

Common Marbled Carpet 1

White Ermine 1

Treble Lines 1

Scoparia ambigualis 1

Scoparia ambigualis

Moth totals

Total Species 50 (48 in garden)

Total moths 239

Moth Trap 30

2009-06-02T07:03:00.002+01:00

16 moths this morning (equal to previous best) 3 new species.

Heart and Dart 6

Pale Mottled Willow 3

Shuttle-shaped Dart 2

Rustic Shoulder Knot 1

Mottled Pug (new !) 1

Minor sp - maybe Rufous Minor? 1

Waved Umber 1 (new !)

Common Wainscot 1 (new !) - confirmed now with a better preserved specimen

Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata)

Waved Umber (Menophra abruptaria) - poor photo really, not much light....not much depth of field

Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)

Minor sp maybe rufous?

Moth totals

Total Species 49 (47 in garden)

Total moths 226

Moth Trap 29

2009-06-01T07:18:00.004+01:00

12 moths today, and 2 new species and maybe 2 more if I can ID a couple of tricky ones! 2 further new species made a getaway before I could grab any pics

5 Heart and Dart

2 Vine's Rustic

1 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Green Pug (new !)

1 Treble Lines (new !)

1 probable Common Wainscot (not added to species list as not 100% is correct due to poor condition)

1 Common marbled carpet

Green Pug (Pasiphila rectangulata)

Treble Lines (Charanyca trigrammica)

Wainscot sp?

Carpet sp?

Moth totals

Total Species 46 (44 in garden)

Total moths 210

Moth trap 28

2009-05-31T06:38:00.006+01:00

12 Moths attracted overnight, 2 new species. I also saw 2 additional moths yesterday which I disturbed whilst gardening, namely 1 Light Emerald and 1 Evergestis forticalis.

4 Heart and Dart

2 Vine'sRustic

1 Spruce Carpet

1 Peppered Moth (new !)

2 Common Swift

2 Green Oak Tortrix (new !)

Green Oak Tortrix (Tortrix viridana)

Peppered Moth (Bistom betularia) - What a great moth!

Moth totals

Total Species 44 (42 in garden)

Total moths 198

Moth Trap 27

2009-05-30T07:40:00.003+01:00

9 moths overnight, and nothing new again

1 Yellow-barred Brindle

1 Garden Carpet

1 Shuttle-shaped Dart

3 Heart and Dart

1 Vine's Rustic

1 Rustic Shoulder Knot

1 Puss Moth - that's my 3rd of these, a very impressive moth.

Moth totals

Total Species 42 (40 in garden)

Total moths 184

Moth trap 26

2009-05-28T21:51:00.006+01:00

After a warm still night I had high hopes for the trap.... The total 16 moths was good but I didn't identify any new species (there were 2 new micros which flew off before I could get any pics).

2 Light brown apple moth

1 Garden Carpet

2 Shuttle-shaped Dart

3 Heart and Dart

2 Diamondback

2 Common Swift

2 Vine's Rustic

1 Common Marbled Carpet

1 Clouded Silver

Common Marbled Carpet (Chlorochlysta truncata)

Moth totals

Total Species 42 (40 in garden)

Total moths 175

Moth trap 25

2009-05-27T22:51:00.007+01:00

At least it didn't rain last night, although still a bit windy. 16 moths came to the light (a new record for me):

2 Silver Cloud

1 Common Marbled Carpet (new !) - no photo

1 Willow Beauty (new !)

4 Shuttle-shaped Dart

2 Yellow-barred Brindle

1 Light brown Apple moth

2 Vine's Rustic

2 Setaceous Hebrew Character

1 Pale Mottled Willow

Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria)

Pale Mottled Willow

Moth totals

Total Species 42 (40 in garden)

Total moths 159

Moth Trap 24

2009-05-27T07:01:00.002+01:00

Didn't run the trap the night before last because of other committments, but back up and running last night and found the following 7 moths:

1 Garden Carpet

3 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Flame Shoulder

1 Latticed Heath (new !)

1 Silver Y (new !)

Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

Latticed Heath (Chiasmia clathrata clathrata)

Moth totals

Total Species 40 (38 in garden)

Total moths 143

Moth Trap 23

2009-05-25T07:18:00.002+01:00

Slimmer pickings today:

4 Heart and Dart

1 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Vine's Rustic

Also found a Lozotaenia forsterana (new !) yesterday whilst gardening

Lozotaenia forsterana

Moth totals

Total Species 38 (36 in garden)

Total moths 136

Chillis!

2009-05-24T22:38:00.004+01:00

A change from the usual reports of moths etc... Last year I had a serious go a growing various varieties of chillis. I did have some success managing to get several types to fruit although I failed completely to get any of the legendary Dorset Naga - the world's hottest chilli - apparently. One reason for that I think was I started too late, i didn't get the seeds sowed until the beginning of April. So this year they went in on Feb 22nd, on our kitchen window sill. I didn't bother with the Dorset Nagas (apart from anything the seeds are £6 a packet! The varieties I went with included "Cherry Bomb", which was the best of last year's and also "Early Jalapeno" which should crop nice and early.

I don't have a greenhouse, and last year the best fruit came from a beer barrel with fleece netting surrounding the plants so I'm giving that another go with 10 plants in the veg patch itself:

I'm hoping that this will keep the plants nice and warm - you can certainly feel that it's warmer down at the plants level, so it should work so long as we don't get too cold a summer. In the sun today it was very warm!

This is one of the plants just after I'd planted it, bearing mind this was planted about 13 weeks ago it gives you an idea of how slowly they grow at the start. From now on they do start to grown more quickly.

Compared to last year, I'm probably 3 weeks further ahead - should give more time for fruits to develop!!

Moth Trap 22 and other bits

2009-05-24T06:49:00.004+01:00

In windier and slightly cooler conditions moth numbers in the trap were down, with 11 found, but still 3 new species.

2 Yellow-barred Brindle

2 Heart and dart

2 Setaceous Hebrew Character (new !)

1 Garden Carpet (new !)

1 Double striped pug

1 Marbled Minor (new !)

1 Clouded Silver

1 White Ermine

In addition i saw a large caddis fly around the light last night, I think a Pharynganea grandis and sorting through other pics from yesterday found the bee - Anthophora plumipes

Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)

Marbled Minor (Oligia striglis) (Probable )

Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctutata)

Anothophora plumipes

Pharynganea grandis

Moth totals

Total Species 37 (35 in garden)

Total moths 129