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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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 ?

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/

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

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.

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 ?

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

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

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