13th March 2011...How cold ?

The temperature last night was the key factor. At sunset it hovered at a point of two over 6deg, but the skies had cleared and all was calm.
I put the two traps on and lit up the shed wall and hoped the temperature would hold up for an hour or two before plummeting to the forecasted zero.
Early success with A. heracliana at dusk, two Common Quakers shortly after, followed by a March Moth.
It was now 7.30 pm and 5 deg, but E. monodactyla was found near the trap.
I had decided that 3 deg would be my cut-off point so at 8.30pm, with temps showing 2.8 deg and falling fast, I checked and emptied the traps before switching off.
Dark Chestnut and another Common Quaker were in the egg boxes.
Off went one of the Skinners and the shed wall lights but I decided to leave one trap on just to see if it was possible for anything to fly at around 2deg.
This morning was frosty, and still very cold at minus 1deg. Checking the trap I found a Common Quaker, Clouded Drab and yet another E. mono.
So, somewhere between plus 2 and minus 1 degrees it is still possible to catch the odd moth.
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DARK CHESTNUT 2259

MARCH MOTH 1663 Garden Tally:-

3 x 1524 Emmelina monodactyla

1 x 0688 Agonopterix heracliana

1 x 2259 Dark Chestnut

3 x 2187 Common Quaker

1 x 2188 Clouded Drab

1 x 1663 March Moth

Totals for garden:-

132 moths of 20 species, 14 macro, 6 micro...........(79 macro, 53 micro)

The Side-Bet so far..........Matt 24, Trent 20

12th March 2011......Drab evening

Nothing too exciting last night. I went out for the evening so I set the traps beforehand.
Had to put one trap inside the shed and one under cover as the Met Office had forecast heavy rain for most of the night.
Got home at 11.30pm and it was drier than a medieaval monks manuscript, so much for covers !
Still got a few moths tho, 5 x Common Quaker, 5 x Clouded Drab, an Early Grey, 3 x A. heracliana and a single A. acanthadactyla. Lowest temperature recorded through the night was 7.8 deg with a slight breeze, so I regretted not taking a chance on the rain and leaving the traps out in the open.

I put this home-made nest box up in mid Feb and had a Blue Tit investigate it on the same day.
It's made from an apple tree log and just to keep it dry I have tacked a piece of roofing felt on the top and jammed it between two forks of my large Bird Cherry tree.
A pair of Blue Tits are now building a nest inside so hopefully they will succesfully raise a brood.
I tried to get a shot of a B.T. at the nest hole this morning without any success so I'll try later. My Sparrow tenement block, under the eaves has been churning out baby sparrows for three years now, oddly enough it has been in place for 8 years with no interest in the first 5 years. More on my Sparrows later.

The intended Blue Tit shot......minus the Blue Tit ! Garden year totals to date :-
122 moths of 20 species.
14 macro and 6 micro species.
73 macros and 49 micros in total

11th March 2011 ...A beautiful pair

The garden was affected by last nights early evening stiff breeze which calmed down at about 21.00 hrs. Most of my garden moths are trapped in the first hour or so after dusk so the early evening produced very little.
A solitary A. heracliana braved the wind at around 18.45 with two Common Quakers clinging on to the walls near the lights.
As soon as the wind dropped, at around 9pm , the situation improved when a March Moth put in an appearance followed by an Oak Beauty.
The trap turned up another Oak Beauty this morning which makes 7 for the year to date.
Oak Beauty is a garden "first" this year so to have 7 of them turn up has pleasantly surprised me.
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A brace of...OAK BEAUTY 1930

MARCH MOTH 1663

EARLY GREY 22436 x Common Quaker

2 x Oak Beauty

1 x March Moth

1 x Early Grey

1 x Hebrew Character

1 x Agonopterix heracliana

This years garden total:-

107 moths of 20 species (14 macro, 6 micro )

After a recount ! 62 macro and 45 micro....

Of the 45 micros, A. heracliana accounted for 30, Tortricodes alternella weighed in with 9. Also Ypsolopha ustella x 2, Emmelina monodactyla x 2, with one each of Amblyptilia acanthadactyla and Epiphyas postvittana.

Of the 62 macros to date, half of them have been Common Quaker, with surprisingly, 7 x Oak Beauty and only 4 x Hebrew Character. The rest is made up of 3's, 2's and 1's of various species.

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For anyone following the little side bet between myself and Matt (http://thetrappingsofsuccess blog) for the most species caught in one year....

As far as I know, Matt bagged a Red Chestnut last night, which on my reckoning, makes the score 22 t0 20, putting me two behind.

Embarrassingly, I still haven't paid for last years defeat, the bet being an "excellent" bottle of red.

The local wine shop in Biggleswade closed down and the supermarkets around here only stock "good" wine scaling down to "barely drinkable".

A foray further afield or an email to Mr Laithwaite is required, but if I wait long enough, we might be quits !

10th March 2011...heracliana dilemma

Last night I caught 9 Agonopterix spp, all were caught within the hour following dusk.
Little variation was found between 8 of them, but there was a larger, darker one amongst them.
UK Moths quotes heracliana as having a 21mm wingspan, which fits the bill for the moth pictured top.
It then gives the wingspan of A. ciliella as 19-24mm.
The next picture shows another Agonopterix with a wingspan approaching 23mm.
SO, do I record it as ciliella (our micro expert would probably not accept this) or do I kill it and check the hindwing, or just record 9 heraclianas ?
If I kill it, would I be doing this for the right reason ? Maybe it would help me to win the coveted bottle of vino back from Matt Trappings. Decisions............
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Last night was a better night for a while, with temps staying above 6deg for most of the evening and the stiff breeze abating.
No new species, which was slightly disappointing, but tomorrow is another night !
Last nights bag was:-
9 x Agonopterix heracliana !
5 x Common Quaker
1 x Hebrew Character
1 x Small Quaker
1 x Oak Beauty
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AGONOPTERIX HERACLIANA 688

another A. HERACLIANA (well it is now!)

SMALL QUAKER 2182

The superb OAK BEAUTY, 1930, my 4th this year to date Totals to date:-

96 moths of 20 species (14 macro, 6 micro)

6th March...Ticking along nicely

Tried the trap and shed wall lights tonight seeing as the temperature remained above 4deg until 19.00hrs.
I'm glad I did, the trusty blacklights attracted this Small Quaker to the shed wall.
This may be the last chance for a few days judging by the weather forecast. Sub-zero temperatures for Bedford area and the gritters are now on standbye ! The nor'easters give way to sou'westers later in the week so things should warm up.
Looking forward to setting up the little Honda Genny in Holme Wood with the 80watt MV and the 100watts of FUL actinic.
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SMALL QUAKER...2182