1st March 2013 ... Dotty about Spring

5 deg C at dusk on a calm overcast evening meant game on for the garden trap.
Half expecting the first Common Quaker/Hebrew Character/Clouded Drab/Satellite etc of the year I checked the trap at 2 glasses past Shiraz 'o clock.
Two moths on the wall near the trap justified the electric bill, a garden first appearance of  Dotted Border and the second garden record for Spring Usher.
Nothing more in or around the trap this morning, no Orthosia species, but the week ahead looks very favourable.

Agriopis marginaria ... Dotted Border

Agriopis leucophaearia ... Spring Usher

26th Feb 2012 ... Hope springs eternal

overnight min. temp ...  5.1 deg. calm, mostly clear, rain before dawn.
Moon, Jupiter and Venus close together and VERY visible in the early evening sky.

I was tidying up the front garden and preparing the ground for a broom hedge today (26th) when I noticed this bracket fungi growing on the side of a leylandii stump. The largest of the brackets is 45mm across but I don't know the species......

Bracket fungi

Last nights conditions were near perfect for the time of year but mothwise it was very quiet apart from 3 x Agonopterix heracliana in the first hour of darkness.
I decided to get a few shots of a couple of caterpillars on the walls plus whatever else was kicking about.
During the photo session, a moth had settled on the wall and to my surprise it was a new addition to the garden list.........

Spring Usher, Agriopis leucophaearia

Trap results
  0688 Agonopterix heracliana x 3
 2256 The Satellite, Eupsilia transversa x 2
 2190 Hebrew Character, Orthosia gothica
 1932 Spring Usher, Agriopis leucophaearia   garden first