2nd gen Toadflax Brocade

Had my first of the second generation of Toadflax Brocade in garden trap on night of 21st July. Saw it flying around the 'stumps' of my Toadflax plants that are just starting to show some recovery after having been completely devoured by 20+ larvae (I had to remove almost half of them and collect food plant as they had none left). Also had a garden first, Magpie Moth, which might not be so exciting to everyone else, but having trapped in various gardens for nearly 10 years I have never had a single one before and only see them, sometimes in good numbers, out in the countryside. I still reminisce about the days when I had them all over the currant bushes in our garden as a kid and it was really nice to finally get a garden record and in Didcot of all places. In fact Didcot is turning out to be a fairly surprising place. Moth numbers and species totals overall are fairly low, still, but some of the species turning up are quite good. I have had 3 Garden Darts over the last week for example. This is a moth I rarely see anywhere let alone in the garden and is another garden first. However, Ross Newham caught this species just up the road in Didcot when he used to live here a few years back, so I guess it was less of a surprise than it might have been. Migrants still elude me and I can only imagine what I might have caught had I still been at Lonesome Farm where I was in a bit of migrant highway. Marc Botham, Didcot

Magpie Moth and Toadflax Brocade to 20W CF actinic in Didcot on 20th July