BLOG WILL RESUME FROM CAYMAN ISLANDS

Hope the weather improves for all you moth trappers, I'm off to the Cayman Islands. Be back on sunday 18th April. Will try to rig up a makeshift trap while I am there and see what exotic species happen along. If I get some good pics I will put them on the blog.

29/03/10

Not a bad night with 18 moths trapped of 7 species,,,,,,,,,, 5 x Common Quaker,,,,, 5 x Clouded Drab ,,,, 3 x Early Grey,,, 2 x Hebrew Character ,,,, 1 x Small Quaker,,,, 1 x Satellite,,,, plus one micro, A. heracliana. above..... orange spotted form of SATELLITE.

A surprise visitor in the funnel trap.

Should be lots of these about soon ...a Large Yellow Underwing catty crawling up my shed.

Some kind of owl ? A Clouded Drab head on

Common Quaker

Small Quaker

Clouded Drab

Getting better............28/03/10

DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG (thanks Andy)

DIURNEA FAGELLA

DIURNEA FAGELLA Identification confirmed by A&M......thanks

THE DELLS .....TL1944

TRAP.................Twin 11 watt PLS actinic SKINNER

A much better night with calm conditions and warmer temps, until it started raining at midnight ! 26 moths trapped of 9 species

RESULTS:-

Common Quaker.............................. 13

E. monodactyla................................. 3

Clouded Drab.................................... 2

Early Grey......................................... 2

Hebrew Character............................ 1

Small Quaker..................................... 1

A. heracliana...................................... 1

I HAVE NOW REACHED THE POINT WHERE HELP IS NEEDED !

Two micros were trapped which I cant identify. The top picture was taken in torchlight last night as it was on the perspex and the flash "x-rayed" it. Unfortunately it had done a runner before the morning so no daylight picture was possible. wingspan under 20mm

The middle and bottom pictures show two separate moths of this species, and I will have a stab and say they look like DIURNEA FAGELLA to me, but I stand to be corrected. wing length about 13mm

IDENTIFICATIONS NOW CONFIRMED AS (top) Double-striped Pug and Diurnea fagella......many thanks to Andy & Melissa

Bright moon reflects low count .......27/03/10

THE DELLS, BIGGLESWADE, BEDFORDSHIRE. TL1944
TRAP:- Twin 11watt PLS actinic Skinner
LOCATION:- Back garden bbq area
The big bright moon and a cool breeze kept numbers down and only two moths in the Skinner.
1 x HEBREW CHARACTER and 1 x COMMON QUAKER

YID ARMY !

Not the best of nights with a blustery wind and a lot of showers, some very heavy. The Funnel Trap was placed inside the open shed door and the Skinner under the BBQ table to keep out the rain. Surprisingly, the funnel trap did better than the skinner. 5 - 2.RESULTS :-
3 x Hebrew Character
2 x Clouded Drab
1 x Common Quaker
1 x Early Grey

HEBREW CHARACTER all caught in the Funnel Trap

PS. Heard first singing CHIFFCHAFF 25/03/10 Spring is here !

25/03/10 Too wet and windy

Last night was wet, windy and much cooler, down to 5c. Had the Skinner out and switched on the shed sheet light. The poor conditions produced 3 moths of 3 species :-
1 x A. heracliana (on sheet early evening)
1 x Common Quaker and another Early Grey in Skinner trap.
Weather forecast is poor for next few days

Warm and Wet 24/03/10

Very warm and very wet last night, but a good return from the traps. Also set up a sheet on the side of the shed with a 20watt "disco" lamp . Was able to compare Lead-coloured Drab alongside Clouded Drab in the Skinner but the pic doesnt show the wide feathery antennae of the Lead-coloured as it refused to pose. Another first for the garden was an Early Grey, one in each trap and on the shed sheet a Double-striped pug paid a visit. Not a garden first as I had a few of these last year. Results :-
Common Quaker x 7
Hebrew Character x 1
Lead-Coloured Drab x 1
Clouded Drab x 1
Early Grey x 2
Double-striped Pug x 1
E. monodactyla x 2
A. heracliana x 2
plus one more unidentified tortrix EARLY GREY

LEAD-COLOURED DRAB

EMMELINA MONODACTYLA

HEBREW CHARACTER

DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG

AGONOPTERIX HERACLIANA

TORTRIX spp

Many thanks to Bennyboymothman for identifying this critter as a LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH, Epiphyas postvittana. This particular species was a very common visitor to my garden last summer, but I had just started "mothing" and at the time micro moths were not being counted. This year however I am going to record them. (If i can get a photo that is) otherwise my knowledge of these micros would be insufficient to make an ID without the help of the experts.

22/03/10 Trap results

A damp, cold and very dewy night only produced a Common Quaker and a Hebrew Character in the skinner. Just the one trap out last night

New Arrival..........21/03/10

SMALL QUAKER

Agonopterix heracliana

Unidentified (without flash)

Unidentified (with flash)

Last nights trapping produced a garden first, a SMALL QUAKER, plus 4 x Common Quaker, 1 x Clouded Drab.

The micro count was 2 x Agonopterix heracliana and an unidentified species on my kitchen wall.

The Lodge today 21/03/10

A beautiful day at long last so a trip to The Lodge. My binoculars gave me great views of Orange Underwings alighting on the birch twigs with the underwing patterns clearly visible. I counted well over 40 along the the Sandy Ridge trail and down to the old heath. As a bonus, this ENGRAILED was found on an oak trunk.

Wet night brings drab result

With the constant drizzle all night, the skinner was placed under the BBQ table thus restricting its range somewhat. The funnel trap was placed inside the shed with the door open. But despite the weather I got my first CLOUDED DRAB, in fact two. The nights results were :-
CLOUDED DRAB x2
COMMON QUAKER x4
HEBREW CHARACTER x1 Common Quaker

Hebrew Character

Clouded Drab

Todays Micri ID

Micro below has been identified as TORTRICODES ALTERNELLA. Many thanks to Ben Sale.

THE LODGE 20/03/10

A flying visit to The Lodge this morning produced 2 pairs of micros in the mixed birch/oak wood shown in the top two photos. Top photo shows how well camoflaged the micro is on an old oak leaf. Picture quality is not good, but if anyone can ID this moth I would be grateful. OSPREY BUILDING produced 3 x YELLOW HORNED and a SMALL QUAKER.

YELLOW HORNED

SMALL QUAKER The micro is Tortricodes alternella. Thanks Ben

19/03/10.........Still Drabless !

Just the one COMMON QUAKER in the skinner to report on a wet windy night, and the first LACEWING of the year (a rather yellowish one ) My target moth for the past week has been Clouded Drab, with no success to date. No offers on the mystery caterpillar on earlier blog as yet !!! ???

TRAP REFURB 19/03/10

Two 11 watt PLS actinic lamps parallel to the gap in the perspex is now the finished artical and I will be using this garden trap for the rest of the year, along with the "Homebase Funnel" of course. Hopefully there will be a break in the rain tonight and the wind drops.

More Quakers !! .............18/03/10

A brace of COMMON QUAKERS, one in each trap, were the only catch last night. I am releasing them too far away for them to be previously caught , so there must be a lot of them around my garden. Weather looks bad for the next few days, so not expecting too much. COMMON QUAKERS

17.03.10 Another garden first already

Yet again favourable conditions with night temps around 6 deg C. One COMMON QUAKER in funnel trap and an earlier micro which had escaped by morning. 2 x COMMON QUAKER in skinner trap along with a HEBREW CHARACTER, a first record for my garden. Another micro seen earlier in the night had also escaped by morning. Hebrew Character

Things are getting better

Set two traps last night and bagged two Common Quaker and a Satellite in the "Homebase Funnel Trap"...also another Common Quaker and a Dark Chestnut in the twin 15watt actinic Skinner trap. Top picture is the wonderful Oak Beauty found in Matts trap at Upper Caldecote this morning which I snapped........... OAK BEAUTY COMMON QUAKER

DARK CHESTNUT SATELLITE

"Homebase Funnel Trap

Todays Picture Puzzle

NAME THAT CATERPILLAR ??

Ides of March

Nothing doing in the macro department, but two Agonopterix species turned up, possibly "ciliella" (top) and " heracliana" (middle) along with the first Emmelina monodactyla (bottom) of the year.

Success at last

Success for the funnel trap and a welcome new addition to the garden list...COMMON QUAKER.

Zilch !!

Nothing at all in traps. Try again tonight, weather looks ok

Traps out tonight !!!

With temperatures of 10 degrees (daytime) and only falling to a predicted 5 degrees tonight I have put out two traps in the garden. Also, Matt and I have set up the MK 1 portable trap at a location in Broom Pits. Here's hoping the portable will trap something interesting and my garden traps will peg back the massive early lead that the Caldecote has over the Dells !!

13/03/2010 The Lodge

Dotted BorderSmall Brindled Beauty A trip to the Lodge this morning produced 4 DOTTED BORDER and a SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY at the rear of the Osprey building. A bonus was a peregrine circling the Quarry and the quarry car park along with 8 soaring Buzzards.