Scarce Prominent

I had planned to trap in a birch-rich area of Bernwood Forest last night to try and see some of the 'other' Eriocrania species as adults.  By late-afternoon it had become clear that the Met Office were being their usual incompetent selves at predicting night-time cloud-cover and that it would end up being clear with a bright moon and very much colder than forecast.  Still, nothing ventured nothing gained so I went anyway on the off-chance that something might fly in the hour or two after dusk before it got too chilly.  Not a single micro came to light so the target certainly wasn't achieved!  In the end I struggled up to a grand total of 27 moths of ten species before giving up, but it was a worthwhile effort because the most abundant was Scarce Prominent with ten recorded.  It is one of the less common members of that family and, like Great Prominent, doesn't come back for a second brood so needs to be seen as an adult at this time of year or not at all (my latest records for Scarce are from the first week of May).  The other species recorded were Purple Thorn, Engrailed, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Red Chestnut, Clouded Drab, Hebrew Character, Early Grey, Pale Pinion and Nut-tree Tussock.

Scarce Prominent, Bernwood 7th April

Scarce Prominent, Bernwood 7th April

Lesser Swallow Prominent, Bernwood 7th April

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks