A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
Tuesday, 6 October 2020
Delayed post: very early Spring Usher
Meant to post this way back but completely forgot until someone brought it up recently and reminded me: during a Berks Moth Group outing to Mirams Copse on 12th September Roy Dobson had an exceptionally early Spring Usher to his trap. This is by far the earliest record I have come across. On the same night we had Mottled Umber for which I imagine September records are not so unusual, though I don't usually start to see it until later in October personally. Between all the traps we managed a fair list of species with nothing exceptional, but notably very low numbers generally despite very warm and mild conditions. Marc Botham
That is really exceptional for Spring Usher, isn't it?!!
ReplyDeleteFor Mottled Umber, as you say, not quite so exceptional but still very unusual. In Bucks we have five September records (out of 1,200+) and the earliest is on the 18th back in 1992. I've had just the one, in Finemere Wood on 28th September 2007.
That's a very confused Spring Usher! Three months early I've never heard of anythng like that. It takes a lot to surprise me these days in terms of phenology but this does.
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