Away Trapping in Bucks

On Friday night I ran a couple of traps at BBOWT's Calvert Jubilee reserve.  As was to be expected beside such a large lake, it got chilly very quickly, indeed far cooler than the exceedingly optimistic forecast which was based on cloud cover of which in the end there was none!  Very little turned up, only 18 species and the majority just as singletons, but all was not lost as the moths did include Frosted Green and Great Prominent which were new to the site list from when I last trapped there regularly six or seven years ago. 

On Saturday two MVs were run in Bernwood Forest and, although again it proved to be another fairly chilly three-hour session, the traps did perform a little better and the tally reached 30 species.  Great Prominent was the moth of the evening with 85 recorded.

On Monday night Martin Albertini and Marc Botham joined me at Rowley Wood north of Slough where between us we ran six lights for the usual three hours.  Helped by the warm temperatures, this was an excellent night for the time of year!  Around 70 species were recorded and they included Rivulet which appeared in a couple of the traps.  Unlike the rather similar Small Rivulet, this is a very uncommon moth in Bucks and I've only ever recorded it from the greensand on the Bedfordshire border, although I see there are records from nearby Black Park from the 1980s and Richard Ellis gets it occasionally in his garden at Chorleywood.  However, the "moth of the night" for me at Rowley has to have been a Chamomile Shark which came to one of Marc's lights, this being my first encounter with the species.  While the records suggest it is found right across the county, it must be very thinly-spread.  Leaving aside Dave Maunder's larval find in 2015 (link), there have been only eight post-millennium records in Bucks and the last was eleven years ago.  Other new sightings for the year included Nematopogon swammerdamella, Tachystola acroxantha, Elachista rufocinerea, Elachista apicipunctella, Ancylis mitterbacheriana, Scoparia ambigualis, Ochreous Pug, Dwarf Pug, Tawny-barred Angle, Brown Silver-line, Pale Oak Beauty, Lobster Moth, Pale Tussock & Knot Grass.  Grey Birch put in a good showing, appearing at every trap.

 

Rivulet, Rowley Wood 7th May

Chamomile Shark, Rowley Wood 7th May

Finally last night (Tuesday 8th) I went to Hog & Hollowhill Woods near Medmenham which produced a rather disappointing tally of about 30 species - and not a single prominent.  There were quite a few moths and if you like Orange Footman, Marbled Brown or Nut-tree Tussock it was certainly the place to be (85 Nut-tree Tussocks between the two lights).  Also, more than 30 cockchafers meant that there was always plenty of activity inside the traps!  New species for me for the year included Barred Hook-tip, Clay Triple-lines, Freyer's Pug and White-pinion Spotted.

Clay Triple-lines, Hog & Hollowhill Woods 8th May

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks