Westcott, Bucks

Having been enjoying wall-to-wall sunshine (and some very nice moths) in Portugal since the beginning of the month I expected things literally to have taken off in the garden by now but it seems that for much of the past week the weather here has been pretty dismal.  I was back in time to trap in the garden last night and the catch comprised only 74 moths of 24 species (just two of them micros), a far cry from the amount of activity during the second week of June last year.  That said, there were five new moths for the garden year-list, comprising one of the smaller Cnephasia species (awaiting dissection) along with Treble Brown Spot, Privet Hawk-moth, Dark Arches & Small Clouded Brindle.

Treble Brown Spot, Westcott 8th June

Privet Hawk-moth, Westcott 8th June

Small Clouded Brindle, Westcott 8th June

The garden list currently stands at 235 confirmed adult species for 2019 which is actually a handful ahead of this time last year, but things are sure to fall behind again in the cool, damp conditions expected over the coming week.

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks