12th Sept 2013 ... Rained off, mostly

Colder wetter weather for a week, it's like someone threw a switch and said, " You've had a good summer but that's yer lot mate". Tonights weather is appalling so no traps.
Still a few Large and Lesser Yellow Underwings, Square-spot, Flounced and Vine's Rustic and Shuttle Darts.
Turnip Moths and Pale Mottled Willow numbers are healthy.
Green Carpet and Small Blood-vein add a bit of colour to the tired looking brown moths.
Last night looked promising until the rain spoiled proceedings but a Red Underwing ignored the conditions and settled on the garden shed above the 15watt blacklight sometime in the early hours ...

Red Underwing

Last nights catch .. 12th Sept
Cacoecimorpha pronubana, Carnation Tortrix ...  Lots seen flying during the day
Emmelina monodactyla
Light Brown Apple Moth x 6
Plutella xylostella, Diamond-back Moth x 2
Yponomeuta malinellus
Agriphila geniculea x 3
Monopis obviella
Small Dusty Wave x 5
Brimstone Moth x 2
Light Emerald
Green Carpet
Small Blood-vein
Willow Beauty x 7
Toadflax Pug
Double-striped Pug x 2
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Large YU x 7
Lesser YU x 6
Set. Heb. Character x 7
Vine's Rustic x 5
Mouse Moth
Copper Underwing agg.
Pale Mottled Willow x 6
Flounced Rustic
Turnip Moth x 2
Square-spot Rustic x 2
Straw Dot
Red Underwing
Snout x 2
11th Sept ... Best of ....
Agonopterix arenella
Tawny Speckled Pug
Garden Carpet
Common Wainscot

14th Aug 2013 .. Worst Red Underwing shot ever

I recorded my "year first" Red Underwing last night and to dispel any doubts I photographed it.....

.... 5 metres high on the house wall, fluttering about.
Torch in one hand, Lumix in the other on full zoom, I grabbed the above quickly taken one-off shot before it took off again.
As it flew from the wall I followed it with the torch hoping the light would lure it down, which it did.. Narrowly avoiding the clutches of a hungry Bat it landed in my neighbours rose bush on the wrong side of the dividing wall and out of sight.
Crap pic, but good enough for another year tick and it doesn't have to sit in a pot in my cold fridge overnight for a mornings photo shoot.
14th Aug .....
0247 ... Tinea trinotella
0424 ... Yponomeuta evonymella ... 3
0426 ... Yponomeuta malinellus
0427 ... Yponomeuta cagnagella
0647 ... Hofmannophila pseudospretella ... 5
0648 ... Endrosis sarcitrella
0658 ... Carcina quercana ... 2
870x ... Oegoconia spp
0974 ... Argyrotaenia ljungiana ...2
0985 ... Cacoecimorpha pronubana
1048 ... Acleris variegana ... 3
1159 ... Rhopobota naevana
1304 ... Agriphila straminella ... 3
1309 ... Agriphila geniculea ... 10+
1361 ... Pyrausta aurata ... 2
1405 ... Pleuroptya ruralis ... 5
1428 ... Aphomia sociella
1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla ... 4
1713 ... Riband Wave ... 2
1728 ... Garden Carpet
1742 ... Yellow Shell ... 2
1781 ... Small Waved Umber ... 2
1825 ... Lime-speck Pug ... 2
1839 ... Bordered Pug

1839 ... Bordered Pug

1883 ... Yellow-barred Brindle ... 2nd gen.

1883 ... Yellow-barred Brindle

1906 ... Brimstone Moth ... 3
1913 ... Canary-shouldered Thorn
1921 ... Scalloped Oak
1937 ... Willow Beauty ... 3
2044 ... Dingy Footman
2050 ... Common Footman
2087 ... Turnip Moth ... 2
2092 ... Shuttle-shaped Dart ... 30+
2107 ... Large Yellow Underwing ...3
2109 ... Lesser Yellow Underwing ... 2
2110 ... Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
2112 ... Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing ... 2
2134 ... Square-spot Rustic ... 2
2145 ... Nutmeg ... 2
2223 ... Toadflax Brocade ... 2

2223 ... Toadflax Brocade

2284x.. Grey Dagger agg.
2289 ... Knot Grass ... 2
2293 ... Marbled Beauty ... 3
2297x . Copper Underwing agg.
2299 ... Mouse Moth
2303 ... Straw Underwing ... 14
2321 ... Dark Arches ... 2
2341 ... Cloaked Minor ... 3
2343x.. Common Rustic agg.
2353 ... Flounced Rustic ... 3
2361 ... Rosy Rustic
2381 ... Uncertain
2384 ... Vine's Rustic ... 2
2389 ... Pale Mottled Willow
2441 ... Silver Y ... 18
2450 ... Spectacle ... 2
2452 ... Red Underwing ... year first

18th Sept 2012 .. Big Red

Temperature dropped to 4 deg. last night and at last the Large Yellow Underwings are in decline.
Over the last 3 nights the totals of these blundering beasts has been 70, 47 and 19 last night in two traps.
My interest in the garden traps has been in decline for the last 3 weeks after recording similar lists for too long, but it got a much needed shot in the arm last night as two more species were added to the year list.

  1 .. 0647 .. Hofmanophila pseudospretella
  1 .. 0674 .. Depressaria badiella
  1 .. 1048 .. Acleris variegana
  4 .. 1524 .. Emmelina monodactyla

  1 .. 0015 .. Orange Swift
  3 .. 1728 .. Garden Carpet
  1 .. 1764 .. Common Marbled Carpet
  1 .. 1776 .. Green Carpet
  1 .. 1862 .. Double-striped Pug
  1 .. 1906 .. Brimstone Moth
  3 .. 1916 .. Light Emerald
  2 .. 1937 .. Willow Beauty
19 .. 2107 .. Large Yellow Underwing
  6 .. 2109 .. Lesser Yellow Underwing
14 .. 2126 .. Setaceous Hebrew Character
  6 .. 2134 .. Square-spot Rustic
  1 .. 2274 .. Sallow, year first

  2 .. 2270 .. Lunar Underwing
  1 .. 2297 .. Copper Underwing
  2 .. 2353 .. Flounced Rustic
  7 .. 2384 .. Vine's Rustic
  2 .. 2389 .. Pale Mottled Willow
  1 .. 2441 .. Silver Y
  1 .. 2452 .. Red Underwing, year first

28th Aug, The Mill, Biggleswade

Rain stopped play last night so nothing to report.
Today, took grandkids Keely and Louie to to the little park at the old mill (long since converted to des.res.) next to the River Ivel which flows through home town Biggleswade and is a feeder for the Great Ouse.
Coming through The Dells to Back St we checked out the Prickly Lettuce plants that seem to grow out of the asphalt edges of the paths and it wasn't long before Louie found the first Small Ranunculus larva, in fact almost every small patch of plants was occupied .....

... small wonder that I get so many adults in the garden.
There is also plenty of Ivy-leaved Toadflax sprawling down the brick walls along the pedestrian footpaths but no sign of any Toadflax Brocade larva, maybe the wrong time of year ?

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

The Mill, River Ivel

River Ivel

20 years ago the banks of the Ivel were covered with Common Comfrey and Purple Loosestrife etc, but now the invasive Himalayan Balsam has taken over.

A few young bunnies were having a nibble at the quiet end of the park

Cameraria ohridella on every leaf of the parks Horse Chestnuts trees

A larva found by the grandkids.... anyone ?
Bright-line Brown-eye looks good

I've been on the lookout for one of these in the garden recently... Red Underwing on its last legs, found in the park by Keely

28th Aug 2011....Garden update

For the last week I could have put a ditto under the catch list and overnight temperatures with little variation on the catch and, "also wet", next to the 9/10 degree overnight lows.
So after a couple of nights of non trapping, I fired up the lights and traps last night and a Red Underwing duly obliged.
My third Old Lady made a brief visit along with two Silver Y.
Vine's Rustic, Large Yellow Underwing,Turnip Moth and Willow Beauty  made up the bulk of the macro catch.
Micro numbers are plummeting but Agriphila geniculea are still around in numbers.
18 x Large Yellow Underwing
12 x Vine's Rustic
12 x Turnip Moth
10 x Willow Beauty
3 x Brimstone Moth
5 x Square-spot Rustic
3 x Common Wainscot
4 x Yellow Shell
1 x Flame Shoulder
1 x Red Underwing year first

RED UNDERWING

1 x Old Lady
3 x Garden Carpet
1 x Green Carpet
6 x Setaceous Hebrew Character
5 x Pale Mottled Willow
2 x Double-striped Pug

DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG

4 x Flounced Rustic
4 x Straw Underwing
1 x Lesser Yellow Underwing
2 x Silver Y
2 x Orange Swift
1 x Spectacle
1 x Light Emerald
1 x Marbled Beauty

14 x Agriphila geniculea
1 x Agriphila tristella
1 x Carcina quercana
1 x Amblyptilia acanthadactyla
1 x Hofmannophila pseudospretella
1 x Emmelina monodactyla
2 x Endrosis sarcitrella
1 x Phlyctaenia ruralis
2 x Epiphyas postvittana
1 x Galleria mellonella
1 x Pyrausta aurata
1 x Tinea trinotella

Garden 2011
388 species
217 macro
171 micro

!st Sept....Two Red Underwings

APHOMIA SOCIELLA.......Bee Moth Not too much in the traps last night, although I trapped TWO Red Underwings and another Centre-barred Sallow. The rest were the usual large haul of Large Yellow Underwings plus the usual moths encountered at this time of year
........................................................
ACLERIS VARIEGANA.......Garden-rose Tortrix

ROSY RUSTIC

CENTRE-BARRED SALLOW

One of the two RED UNDERWING

31st Aug....Nice end to the month

It doesn't look too impressive, apart from its large size, when sitting on the wall.
But when it opens its wings....................

............. it transforms into this striking RED UNDERWING a garden first- timer
It was great to find the RED UNDERWING on the back wall near the Funnel Trap, this was the first time I had seen one of these beauties.

Had an all-out attack on the garden with 3 traps running in a desperate attempt to get a Newby in the garden for August. (and to try and bridge the gap between The Dells total and Manor Place, Upper Caldecote, where I have been the victim of some recent taunting !) SO, I was a little surprised and rather chuffed to find my efforts had paid dividends with the Red Underwing and this superb...............
..........LATTICED HEATH

Hey Matt !............... want to borrow one of these ???

The moth that has so far found Manor Place unpalatable...................

............................................................ TREBLE-BAR with 3 traps on the go and a wind-less, warmer (slightly) evening and NO power cuts, the total moth count was high. Unable to make a precise count

30 plus....Vine's Rustic

30 plus....Large Yellow Underwing

20 plus....Flounced Rustic

20 plus....Orange Swift

10 plus....Setaceous Hebrew Character

10 plus....Willow Beauty

10 plus....Turnip Moth

5 plus.....Pale Mottled Willow

5 plus.....Double-striped Pug

5 plus.....Shuttle-shaped Dart

5 plus.....Brimstone Moth

5 x Yellow Shell

4 x Lesser Yellow Underwing

3 x Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing

3 x Square-spot Rustic

3 x Garden Carpet

3 x Straw Underwing

3 x Common Wainscot

3 x Small Dusty Wave

2 x Cabbage Moth

2 x Nutmeg

Copper Underwing X

Light Emerald

Treble-bar

Latticed Heath

Marbled Beauty

Silver Y

Plus a multitude of rustic type aggs