With the temperature remaining just into double figures last night the garden actinic produced a reasonable catch of 73 moths from 17 species although, as is only to be expected, there does seem to be a general downwards trend towards winter now that Beaded Chestnut and Lunar Underwing are almost at an end. Last night's most numerous moth was Brick with a record 19 individuals. Brick numbers fluctuate wildly from year to year here but this season it has now surpassed the highest total ever achieved in the garden (156 in 2015). No other moth got into double digits last night but the Novembers, Feathered Thorn and Green-brindled Crescent did get close. Dark Chestnut has been doing well here over the past few weeks and five turned up last night, while it was also good to see another Dusky-lemon Sallow (13th of the season). A rather dark Pale Pinion in the catch was the third this autumn but the chances of seeing its cousin Tawny Pinion here this year seem to be fading fast now. Neither species is guaranteed to turn up in the garden.
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| Pale Pinion, Westcott 23rd October |
Finemere Wood received another visit last night with a couple of MV traps. HS2 workers have now set up shop along the track leading to the entrance and their massive floodlights will probably draw a lot of moths out of the wood! 18 species appeared at my lights, with Figure of Eight (33) the most numerous and a single
Epinotia maculana the only thing of interest. Everything else was very much as expected, with no sign of the hoped-for Clifden Nonpareil. As in the garden, species such as December Moth, Scarce Umber and Mottled Umber have yet to get going here.
Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
It always amazes me how numbers of jndividual moth species vary depending where you are.
ReplyDeleteDespite closely examjnjng I am yet to see a Brick. However out of 46 moths the other night 29 were Black Rustic!.
Not a single Brick has yet been seen in my Cookham garden. I think they are all in Westcott!
ReplyDeleteNo Bricks in Sibford either. In fact last night my catch was a single Yellow-line Quaker. Maybe tonight will be cloudier.
ReplyDeleteI find the lack of Bricks elsewhere quite surprising (but then moths never cease to amaze!). If you've not had one yet then a torchlight search of any local flowering ivy might come up trumps, although you have to be careful as they seem easily spooked and simply fall off the flowers/berries.
ReplyDeleteHere in east Somerset I collect bags of fallen sallow catkins in the spring and rear the moths that feed on them. The Brick is by far the commonest species and must be breeding on nearly every sallow tree locally (and according to the books this is not even the main foodplant). Yet I have recorded the adult to light in the garden just once in the seven autumns I have lived here. It turns up slightly more often in the woods, but I have only trapped it in numbers when placing the traps directly under the elm trees that it is supposed to favour.
ReplyDeleteFive more Bricks in the garden actinic last night, taking their account to 176 since the first a month ago on 25th September. 41 moths of 18 species in total, all much as expected with the only possible migrants being singletons of Dark Sword-grass and Silver Y. I shall continue to run the trap but expecting very little if anything for the next few nights!
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