Woodland Trapping

On Wednesday I had another session near Marlow in the south of Bucks looking for Plumed Prominent and it turned out to be the most successful evening I've ever had in the county searching for this nationally scarce species, with 24 of them recorded.  Three traps were run in the BBOWT-managed section of the Forestry Commission's Homefield Wood and between them they brought in a dozen Plumed Prominent males, five between two 125wt MVs and seven to a single 15wt actinic.  I monitored the two MVs quite closely and their plumigera arrivals were all between 6pm and 6.30pm.  The actinic was left to its own devices until packing-up time but all of the arrivals there were in by 7.30pm.  Apart from December Moth which put in a reasonable showing (20 individuals divided between all three lights), the only other moths seen were November Moth sp (3), Winter Moth (1), Feathered Thorn (2) & Yellow-line Quaker (1).  On my way to Homefield I'd dropped off a single 125wt MV trap in nearby Pullingshill Wood on the off-chance, even though I'd noticed only a few young and scraggly field maples there.  When I went back to collect it at 7.45pm there were no less than 12 male Plumed Prominents on the sheet or in the trap, making it the most numerous species present!  They were accompanied by December Moth (9), November Moth sp (1), Feathered Thorn (1), Mottled Umber (1), Satellite (3) & Brick (1).  Pullingshill is mixed woodland belonging to the Woodland Trust and is now a new county site (and tetrad) for plumigera. 

Plumed Prominents, Homefield Wood 14th November

I've always found woods in the Chilterns to be very quiet at this time of year and this visit was no exception.  You'd expect that to be true of the sterile beech-woods where very little else grows, but Homefield and many of its surrounding areas of woodland have a very diverse collection of mature deciduous trees and shrubs so I don't really understand why there weren't more seasonal moths about.  Last night (Thursday) I trapped in Finemere Wood out here in the Vale of Aylesbury and, much as expected and in direct contrast to the previous night's results, there was absolutely no shortage of moths even though the species count didn't break any records:  Diurnea lipsiella (2), Blastobasis lacticolella (2), December Moth (72), November Moth sp (25), Winter Moth (35, no candidates for Northern), Feathered Thorn (81), Scarce Umber (19), Mottled Umber (15), Figure of Eight (1), Satellite (2), Chestnut (11), Dark Chestnut (1) & Brick (11).  I was surprised not to see a single Sprawler but perhaps its season there is over already.  The picture below of the trap hasn't come out quite as well as I'd hoped but it does give an impression that there were plenty of moths to be seen!

MV trap at Finemere Wood 15th November

Diurnea lipsiella, Finemere Wood 15th November

Diurnea lipsiella may be a particularly boring moth to look at but it is always good to see because it is nowhere near as widespread as its springtime cousin Diurnea fagella.

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks