I trapped in
Bernwood Forest, Bucks again last night, in a different area to my last session there on the 27th, and this time had a far better result. Even though it got progressively mistier as the evening wore on, by 11pm I'd seen the following 22 species:
Diurnea lipsiella,
Acleris rhombana,
Acleris emargana,
Nomophila noctuella, December Moth, Red-green Carpet, Spruce Carpet, November Moth, Pale November Moth, Autumnal Moth, Feathered Thorn, Figure of Eight, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Black Rustic, Green-brindled Crescent, Merveille du Jour, Brindled Green, Satellite, Brick, Yellow-line Quaker, Pink-barred Sallow & Large Wainscot. The total was 198 moths, which is not to be sniffed at in late-October even if 140 of them were
Epirrita species!
Although nothing much to look at, it is always good to see
Diurnea lipsiella which appears to be far less common than its springtime counterpart
Diurnea fagella. The single December Moth was my first ever October record for the species although it only beats my previous earliest sighting by three days.
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| Diurnea lipsiella, Bernwood Forest 30th October |
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| December Moth, Bernwood Forest 30th October |
Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
That's a fantastic haul of moths for the very end of October. Almost the complete set.
ReplyDeleteYes, was very pleased. Brought back a sample of 18 of the largest Epirritas to check and the majority turned out to be Pale November but was very pleased to find two Autumnals. Had hoped it might be new for the site list because you and I don't seem to have recorded it there before, but I see there are two or three ancient sightings, the most recent being from the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteI'm just prepping an Autumnal for the dissection website. The images can certainly be better.
ReplyDelete