A warmer night brings results

On Tuesday night the temperature fell to -2°C, and I only caught four moths in total, representing three species. The weather forecast for last night was for clear skies with a cloud-bearing front approaching by dawn: the clear skies would allow the temperature to fall to 1°C.  What actually happened was that the cloud arrived much earlier than forecast, and consequently the temperature only fell to 6°C.

I had a pleasant surprise when I emptied the traps this morning, perhaps as a result of the unexpectedly warm night.

I ended up with a total of 37 moths of 13 species between my two traps (one with an actinic light; the other with LED). Five of those species were new for the garden - that doesn't mean a great deal as I only have records from 2019.  Pride of place will go to a Dotted Chestnut, albeit looking a little ragged.

Dotted Chestnut, Newton Longville 2nd April

The other new species for the garden list were Brindled Beauty, Early Thorn, Shoulder Stripe and Double-striped Pug.

Shoulder Stripe, Newton Longville 2nd April

It seems as though we're in for a warm spell, so this is promising.

Tim Arnold
Newton Longville, Bucks