Westcott, Bucks

I ran the actinic light in the conservatory here from dusk until 10.30pm last night, when the sky cleared to reveal that very bright moon, and in that time 16 moths had appeared at the windows:  December Moth (5, including two females), Winter Moth (7), Mottled Umber (2) & Dark Chestnut (1) along with what I thought in the dark was a faded Scarce Umber but on reflection in daylight now looks much more like a small, poorly marked and very early Dotted Border.  There is one other December record for Dotted Border in Bucks, from exactly the same date in 2004.  Unlike Mottled Umber which may go on until February, the flight period locally for Scarce Umber is usually only about four weeks long and almost all of my records are confined to November.  This year I had my first in the garden on 31st October so theoretically it should be over here by now anyway.

Westcott, 3rd December

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks