Garden Surprise

I finally got around to looking at last night's garden catch late this afternoon.  On the very first egg-tray to be inspected was an unfamiliar moth which I had to think quite hard about as it was speedily inserted into the nearest pot!  It turned out to be Marbled Clover, a first for VC24.  This is a Red Data Book species resident mainly in East Anglia but is also thought to have migratory tendencies.  Wherever it came from, it was a very nice surprise to get it here in Bucks.

Marbled Clover, Westcott 26th July

Marbled Clover, Westcott 26th July

It was yet another 100+ species night (aren't they always at the moment?!) but the only others new for the year were Achroia grisella and Vapourer.  Gold Spot is still around in numbers (eight last night, with another seen on the buddleia during the daytime), while even more unusual here was getting no less than three Lesser-spotted Pinions which takes me up to five this year - not bad for a moth recorded in the garden only once before.

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks