Last night I had another look at Finemere Wood, Bucks for the usual three hours. The MV brought in just over 280 moths but they were drawn from only seven species so the diversity wasn't particularly good:
Tortricodes alternella (118), March Moth (1), Small Brindled Beauty (4), Pale Brindled Beauty (8), Spring Usher (136), Dotted Border (8) & Chestnut (7). It was good to see
Tortricodes alternella out in force with Small Brindled Beauty just starting, much as you'd expect in oak woodland in early February, but the poor numbers of Pale Brindled Beauty and complete lack of both Mottled Umber and Early Moth suggest that those species might be almost over around here already.
 |
| Tortricodes alternella, Finemere Wood 2nd February |
 |
| March Moth, Finemere Wood 2nd February |
 |
| Small Brindled Beauty, Finemere Wood 2nd February |
Back in the garden at Westcott I had just singletons of Dark Chestnut and Pale Brindled Beauty to the actinic, but the previous night (1st Feb) had brought in my first Hebrew Character of the year which co-incidentally was also the date it first appeared here in 2019.
 |
| Hebrew Character, Westcott 1st February |
Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
I put a couple of traps out overnight at Bagley the previous weekend and had a pretty poor return. Fair numbers of Spring Usher but Pale Brindled beauty was very thin on the ground. Also had a single Small Brindled beauty but not a lot else.
ReplyDeleteIt always seems to be a lottery as to what (if anything) is tempted out of hibernation on warmer nights in woodland at this time of year - you can rely on Chestnut but not a lot else. Still, it won't be long before we are knee-deep in Orthosias!
DeleteA Common Quaker last njght in the Garden (Feb 2nd)
ReplyDelete