Streak!

Last night I decided to make one more visit to Rammamere Heath on the Bucks/Beds border because the forecast temperature seemed more than adequate for the time of year.  While that was indeed  the case, in actual fact it proved difficult to get out of the southerly breeze and counts were low as a result, a mere 21 species being the final tally.  However, as has often been said in the past, it only takes one moth to make a trapping session a memorable one!  For me, last night's moth was a Streak which despite being listed as common is actually very rare in Bucks because there are few areas with significant amounts of its larval food-plant, broom.

Streak, Rammamere Heath 13th October

By way of contrast, the garden trap at Westcott brought in 74 moths of the following 27 species:  Clepsis consimilana, Hypsopygia glaucinalis, Common Marbled Carpet, November Moth, Feathered Thorn, Willow Beauty, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Square-spot Rustic, Common Wainscot, Green-brindled Crescent, Merveille du Jour, Black Rustic, Blair's Shoulder-knot, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker, Beaded Chestnut, Lunar Underwing, Barred Sallow, Sallow, Angle Shades, Burnished Brass, Silver Y, Straw Dot & Snout.  Nothing new but still quite a good tally for the time of year.

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks