Poor catches here too

Last night's collection of moths in the garden trap at Westcott, Bucks was similar to the previous two or three sessions, a rather disappointing total of 52 species (35 macro and 17 micro), of which only one (the tortrix Enarmonia formosana) was new for this year.  Most came in ones and twos, the only examples to breech double-digits being Chrysoteuchia culmella (13), Clouded Border (11), Heart & Dart (59), Smoky Wainscot (12), Dark Arches (17) and the Hoplodrina pair (72).  Following Marc's comments below I had a look back at this time last year, when the weather had just started to perk up.  The same night in the garden produced quite a few more species (61 macro and 22 micro) but it is also interesting to see some of the first-timer macros recorded on that date and the nights either side of it:  they included Lackey, Dwarf Cream Wave, Small Fan-footed Wave, July Highflyer, Swallow-tailed Moth, Yellow-tail, Short-cloaked Moth, Smoky Wainscot & Dingy Shears.  This year all of those species appeared here a few weeks ago (for example, the first garden Lackey and July Highflyer were seen on 13th June and the first Swallow-tailed on 20th June) and some must be starting to go over, so perhaps a dip in the number of species caught is not to be wondered at.  It will be interesting to see what happens if the slightly warmer nights forecast for later in the month actually materialise.  Dave Wilton