WINE RACE 2016 .. MATTc380 .. TRENT 353 .. BEN 347 ...... Garden species:- Macros 357, Micros 365, Total 722

Saturday 24 December 2011

22nd Dec 2011...Garden update

Still warm and a few moths about, too windy later in evening.
4 moths recorded :-
Double-striped Pug
Satellite
Endrosis sarcitrella
Dark Chestnut

No traps set on 23rd....too cold
No traps on 24th...Santas' landing lights switched on in garden !



Merry Christmas all !

Thursday 22 December 2011

21st Dec... Hi-ho Silver

Overnight min temp...6.2 deg. overcast, little breeze.
At 8pm the temperature was still above 10 degrees, Ideal conditions.             My target was a December Moth and I thought I had come up trumps until I got a little closer to a Silver Y on the wall near the trap, maybe tonight then.
4 species recorded :-
An Emmelina monodactyla completed a record for every month of 2011


Emmelina monodactyla
 Agonopterix heracliana was only the second micro recorded in December to date
Agonopterix heracliana
Two macros .... Angle Shades....common in my garden, and one of my favourites. The shape and the pattern of the various shades of brown are amazing, also they are easy to photograph.

Angle Shades
 A very late Silver Y

Silver Y

Wednesday 21 December 2011

20th Dec 2011

The next two nights look promising if the rain holds off.
Minimum temp tonight is forecast to be 8 degrees so I will have the traps on in the hope of getting some of the winter species that I have dipped out on.
Last night I had a couple of traps on the go and caught a single Dark Chestnut.


Dark Chestnut


Tuesday 20 December 2011

19th Dec 2011

A mini mild spell is upon us...temps rose from 3.8 at 1500 hrs, to 6 throughout the evening.
No last minute additions to the 2011 garden list but it was nice to see another Winter Moth on the wall above the trap....

Winter Moth

Monday 12 December 2011

11th Dec 2011....a moth !

The cold snap put paid to the moth catch, so it's been a good time to send my records to the county recorders.
Only 2 moths recorded since my last posting...
Satellite, 3rd Dec... min temp 4.6 deg
Winter Moth, last night (11th Dec)...min temp 1.2 deg
I intend to leave a trap on during December on the warmer nights, just in case, but the light pollution at present is at maximum with all the christmas lights blazing away.

WINTER MOTH

Thursday 1 December 2011

30th Nov 2011

Overnight min temp...8.2 deg
Strong winds with light showers until some time in the wee wee hours.
Nothing to add to the year list, but two macros' were recorded.

Large Nutmeg..."Inhabiting dry pasture and woodland fringes, the adults fly in June and July, and are attracted to light and sugar".....from UK Moths


30th November catch :-
1 x Large Nutmeg !
1 x Silver Y

LARGE NUTMEG

Can anyone name this Catty ?... Found on the shed wall last night, about 35mm long.

Saturday 26 November 2011

25th Nov 2011... Bleary Eyed

Min overnight temp...4.9 deg...windy, clear skies.
Last night I was sampling some fine real ales at the Northill & Ickwell annual beer festival, straight from the keg.
9 barrels of ale from places such as the Houston Brewery in Renfrewshire, with their 2011 British Championship bitter "Peter Wells",  to St Austell Brewery in Cornwall, where the well known "Tribute" has delighted the tonsils of many an ale shifter.
I checked the traps this morning and recorded a big fat zero, that is until my grandson Louie had a ferret round the garden and found a Grey Shoulder-knot on the air vent in the brick wall above the trap....it's no surprise that I missed it this morning.......................


GREY SHOULDER-KNOT

Friday 25 November 2011

24th Nov 2011...Yet another Arches

Overnight min temp, 8.1 deg. Windy all night with a light rain shower in the early hours.
Looks like we are stuck with this wind for a few days.
Last nights catch included yet another Dark Arches, that's 3 nights on the trot. This one is fresher looking than the previous two.
Two Light Brown Apple Moths and a Winter Moth made up the catch.
All moths were in the traps, nothing was seen on the walls during patrols which bucks the trend of late.

DARK ARCHES

WINTER MOTH

Thursday 24 November 2011

23rd Nov 2011 ...another late Dark Arches

overnight min temp... 6.4  deg...breezy, clear
Yet another Dark Arches caught....I was beginning to think that maybe my release point was too close but on inspection, this one is definitely not the moth from last night.
Surely this is the last...it's almost December !

DARK ARCHES

SATELLITE
The previous few Satellites have had orange spots, so it was a nice change to see a white spotted example.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

22nd Nov 2011...Dark and Grey

Overnight min temp...1 deg
Last night was a mixed bag weather wise...Light rain early evening, then temperatures of +10deg until 8 pm when the sky cleared and temperatures plummetted to ONE degree.
A year first Grey Shoulder-knot was very welcome as I had my last one in 2009. Another very late Dark Arches turned up with a Dark Chestnut.
On the micro front...surprisingly, no Light Brown Apple Moths but a solitary Monopis obviella was found on the shed wall.


DARK ARCHES

GREY SHOULDER-KNOT

DARK CHESTNUT

MONOPIS OBVIELLA

Garden tally to date....436
251 macro, 185 micro

Tuesday 22 November 2011

21st Nov 2011....Garden

overnight min temp...8.4...Light rain, damp & misty
The catch report doesn't take long at this time of year
2 x Light Brown Apple Moth
1 x Chestnut

Monday 21 November 2011

20th Nov 2011...Garden

Min overnight temp..5.8 deg and calm, misty.

WINTER MOTH
Nothing new, just two moths....
1 x Light Brown Apple Moth
1 x Winter Moth

Sunday 20 November 2011

18th/19th Nov 2011...Garden catch

18th Nov...Min overnight temp...5.9 deg, Breezy, clear, dewy
19th Nov...Min overnight temp...2.4 deg, calm, foggy
Unsurprisingly, there was very little flying, but I'm still hoping to notch a garden first Mottled Umber, a Sprawler and December Moth to complete a good year.
If the weather doesn't make it impossible, as was the case last year with all the snow, I will leave a trap on throughout November and December.
I am hoping for a December Emmelina monodactyla, which would be a record for every month of the year for this plucky little moth.
18th...
1 x Lesser Yellow Underwing
19th...
1 x Yellow-line Quaker

YELLOW-LINE QUAKER

Friday 18 November 2011

17th Nov 2011...Garden

overnight min temp..7 deg, clear, slight breeze and heavy dew later.
A poor night for the garden with just one Blastobasis lacticolella.



BLASTOBASIS LACTICOLELLA
 Matt and I set up a sheet in Home Wood for a couple of hours and left a battery operated twin actinic/blacklight overnight.
December Moths and Winter moths were recorded on the sheet with Feathered Thorn, Spruce Carpet, plus Ypsolopha ustella.
The trap was checked this morning, absolutely soaked with the heavy dew.
Scarce & Mottled Umber, lots of Sprawler, Feathered Thorn, Winter Moth and Chestnut were noted.

MOTTLED UMBER from Home Wood

YPSOLOPHA USTELLA from Home Wood

Thursday 17 November 2011

16th Nov 2011...Slim pickin's

Overnight min temp. 6.1 deg  rising to 9 through the night, calm
No sooner did I manage to catch up with Matt (Captain Trappings) with my Feathered Thorn, he raised the bar a little with Mottled Umber and tonight (17th) a December Moth was sitting under his 36 watt Blacklight on his shed wall.
Macro race......Matt. 252 - 250 Trent.
Last night was dead at The Dells with just a Chestnut saving the blank.

CHESTNUT

Wednesday 16 November 2011

15th Nov 2011...Feather in my cap

Min temp..6.4 deg... slight cool breeze, overcast.
Coldest night for a while, but the waning moon was covered by medium level cloud, so not bad conditions.
Only 4 moths tho, but one of them was a Feathered Thorn, which brings my garden year macro list to 250
Yellow-line Quaker, Shuttle-shaped Dart and Light Brown Apple Moth made up the 4.


FEATHERED THORN
2011 garden species ... 435
250 macro, 185 micro


Tuesday 15 November 2011

13/14th Nov 2011...Waiting

Still waiting for macro No. 250 for the year...
13th Nov...min temp = 8.9 deg. overcast, light breeze
14th Nov...min temp = 8.4 deg. overcast, calm
13th:-
1 x Brick
1 x Angle Shades
1 x Rusty Dot Pearl, Udea ferrugalis

14th Nov:-
2 x Angle Shades
1 x Dark Arches
1 x Silver Y
3 x Epiphyas postvittana
2 x Rusty Dot Pearl

ANGLE SHADES

RUSTY DOT PEARL, Udea ferrugalis
Unidentified larva, a Carpet type ?

A Red Weevil ?

Sunday 13 November 2011

12th Nov 2011...Another Gem

Overnight min temp. 11 deg. calm early evening, overcast, gusty winds for a while, then calm.
Another good haul given the time of year, the highlight being my 2nd GEM and a garden first 254 Leucoptera laburnella (Laburnum Leaf Miner).... confirmed.
THE GEM

254 Leucoptera laburnella
1 x Udea ferrugalis...Rusty Dot Pearl
1 x Monopis obviella
1 x Plutella xylostella...Diamond-back Moth
1 x Blastobasis lacticolella
1 x Leucoptera laburnella...Laburnum Leaf Miner... ID. DVM
2 x Epiphyas postvittana...Light Brown Apple Moth
3 x Emmelina monodactyla
1 x Dark Arches
1 x Large Wainscot
1 x Angle Shades
1 x Gem
2 x Turnip Moth
Captain Trappings dumped a twin 15watt Actinic/Blacklight Skinner in Home Wood last night and I collected it this morning.
Full report will appear on Matts blog. http://trappingsofsuccess.blogspot.com/

Saturday 12 November 2011

11/11/11....Migrants

Overnight min temp. 10.1 deg...20mph gusts, drizzle and rain from 11pm until midnightish.
Thursdays very bright full moon resulted in a blank for the traps, but last night was a different story.
No sign of the moon, heavily overcast and apart from an hour of rain it was a good night.
13 moths of 11 species were recorded.
Also another garden first was added to The Dells species list, not from the traps but from a phone call.
I sent an unidentified moth to the recorders that had been refridgerated since 15th september.
After a gen det it turned out to be a male Garden Dart which brings the 2011 macro total to a tantalising 249 species. Thanks to Andy and Melissa Banthorpe, whose help over the last 3 years has been invaluable.
Last nights haul :-

BRICK

SATELLITE


DARK SWORD-GRASS


SILVER Y

RUSTY DOT PEARL



RED-LINE QUAKER

BLAIR'S SHOULDER-KNOT


NOVEMBER MOTH agg.
plus
Turnip Moth
Blastobasis lacticolella
Epiphyas postvittana x 3

Thursday 10 November 2011

9th Nov 2011

Overnight min temp. 8.4 deg.  Calm, clear, bright moon
Not quite a blank last night.
1 x Epiphyas postvittana
1 x November moth agg
Both on the wall near the traps, nothing actually IN the traps.
..........................................
10th Nov.....It is now 19.30 hrs and conditions outside are calm, clear and the moon is so bright it is casting well defined shadows.
Rising from the east with the planet Jupiter for company, they will both arc towards the south together.
If you look at the moon, Jupiter is to the right, it looks like a large bright star.
Nice for astronomers...bad news for moth'ers.


Jupiter and 4 moons
Jupiter and its 4 moons can be seen tonight with even a good pair of binoculars. The two moons on each side are the other way around tonight, with the two closest together being on the left hand side (at 20.45 hrs) when I last viewed.

Wednesday 9 November 2011

8th Nov 2011...November strata"gem"

Overnight min temp: 9.4 deg....overcast, drizzly
Trapping throughout November has paid dividends again.
After finding a Scarce Bordered Straw on the 4th, last night produced a male GEM, which is a newcomer to The Dells garden list....

The GEM
This is macro number 248 for the garden in 2011.
The wine bet with Captain Trappings has been conceded for the most garden species this year so I am now playing for pride.
Matt (Capt. Trappings) has reached his 250 macro tally so I am 2 species behind with approx 7 weeks to go.
Tonight (9th) is still mid, but the sky has now cleared showing a big bright almost full moon. Not good.
It is now 20.15 hours and so far nothing in and around the traps.....could this be the first blank for since last winter ?

Sunday 6 November 2011

5th Nov 2011...The Dells garden

Overnight min temp 6.1 deg C...slight breeze, overcast, damp. noisy !
For the first time this year the #2 Skinner near the house drew a blank.
The #1 Skinner attracted just 4 moths of 3 species.
No regular patrols of the traps due to an evenings soiree at the Trappings domicile with friends.
Much ghee based cholesterol was eaten, highly spiced, and red wine was quaffed.
During a ciggy break (Yeah I know !) I checked the Captains traps and alerted him to his 250th macro moth of the year, Dark Sword-grass.
I was tempted to pot it up and hide it but the angel on my right shoulder triumphed over the devil on my left and he is now 3 macros ahead of me for the year !
Tally :-
2 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
1 x Yellow-line Quaker
1 x Plutella xylostella...Diamond-back Moth
2 x "Space Explorer" rocket sticks

Saturday 5 November 2011

4th Nov 2011...Scarce hat-trick

Overnight min temp. 8.8 deg. calm, misty
Very little on the wing last night with the damp misty weather but for the third November running, a Scarce Bordered Straw appeared in the trap.

SCARCE BORDERED STRAW
 Garden tally for 2011 :-
247 macro, 184 micro
431 species

Friday 4 November 2011

3rd Nov 2011...Late Large Nutmeg

Not a great deal to get enthused about. A Vine's Rustic caught on the 30th Oct turned out to be the latest one on record for VC30 and a Large Nutmeg last night, 3rd Nov, may also be the latest.
Still no Feathered Thorn !
Oct 31st...11.1 deg min. Windy, overcast
3 x Blair's Shoulder-knot
2 x Angle Shades
Black Rustic
Pale Mottled Willow
Dark Arches
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Large Wainscot
Turnip Moth
Silver Y
3 x Monopis obviella
2 x Emmelina monodactyla
1 x Blastobasis lacticolella

1st Nov..6.8deg min. calm, cooler
Blair's Shoulder-knot
Yellow-line Quaker
Pale Mottled Willow
2 x Large Wainscot
Shuttle-shaped Dart
3 x Emmelina monodactyla
1 x Eudonia angustea

2nd Nov...12.2 deg min. Windy
2 x Large Wainscot
1 x Silver Y
1 x S.S.Dart
1 x Angle Shades
1 x Epiphyas postvittana

3rd Nov...min 11 deg calm with late heavy rain
2 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
2 x Emmelina monodactyla
3 x Epiphyas postvittana

Light Brown Apple Moth...Epiphyas postvittana

1 x Angle Shades
1 x Blair's Shoulder-knot...very worn, barely recognisable
1 x Turnip Moth
1 x Large Nutmeg
Large Nutmeg

Monday 31 October 2011

30th Oct 2011

Overnight min temp. 13.1 deg...overcast...breezy
No sign of my next target....Feathered Thorn, unless my cat has beaten me to it on her many vigils near the snack trap !
Despite the cat, I managed to record 24 moths of 13 species:-
4 x Epiphyas postvittana
4 x Monopis obviella
2 x Emmelina monodactyla
2 x Lesser Yellow Underwing
2 x Angle Shades
2 x Blair's Shoulder-knot
2 x Large Wainscot
1 x Silver Y
1 x Turnip Moth
1 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
1 x Dark Chestnut
1 x Sallow....very worn
1 x Vine's Rustic

VINE'S RUSTIC
Four more macro moths needed for 250 in 2011

Sunday 30 October 2011

29th Oct 2011...Warm & windy

Overnight min temp 12 deg
Warm, windy
1 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
1 x Angle Shades
1 x Lesser Yellow Underwing
1 x Turnip Moth
1 x Dark Arches
DARK ARCHES
1 x Silver Y
1 x Large Wainscot
2 x Yellow-line Quaker
2 x Green-brindled Crescent

1 x Emmelina monodactyla
1 x Monopis obviella
2 x Epiphyas postvittana

LEAF DWELLER
Any ideas ??
Our micro recorder thinks maybe a tortrix, Clepsis consimilana, but is not happy with the abdomen colour of the larva.
It does not mine, but grazes between two leaves
PIC 1...shows two honeysuckle leaves stuck together with silk


Honeysuckle leaves

PIC 2.... shows the upper side of the smaller leaf after separation.
The larva (around 9mm in length) silk and frass is visible.

Larva, approx 9mm long
I have put it in a pot with some fresh leaves so maybe next spring the finished article will hopefully make an appearance.
I have never tried to rear larvae before...any tips ?