A Couple of Pairs

For a brief period now Clay (which flies in a single generation until mid-August) is flying alongside White-point (whose first generation is coming to an end and the second should start again in early-August).  Clay is the larger moth, being longer in the wing than White-point.  The fore-wing ground colour can vary on both species but White-point is often a richer brown compared to the straw colour of Clay.  The central white spot on Clay varies in size but is usually tear-shaped, while on White-point it is usually circular and more obvious.  This feature should really be checked from a distance, taking in the moth as a whole (get too close and you'll see that the spot on White-point is rarely actually a circle!).          

Clay, Westcott 24th June

White-point, Westcott 26th June

The other two species which give everyone a problem at this time of year are Rustic and Uncertain.  Uncertain usually appears first and in my garden has been out for a couple of weeks now, while Rustic is just starting to appear.  Both are common (in fact they can be very common in some gardens in our area) and there is absolutely no problem at all in recording them as an aggregate ("Hoplodrina species" in MapMate or "Uncertain/Rustic" in iRecord, for example).  However, at the moment while they're still relatively fresh, you should be able to pick out some obvious examples of either species to ensure that you do indeed get a record to species level of both at your site.  For Rustic look for very grey examples with little in the way of an obvious central band.  For Uncertain look for rich brown examples with a very obvious dark central band.

Rustic (left) and Uncertain (right), Westcott 27th June

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks