Westcott, Bucks

Another week has gone by, with fluctuating results dependant on the overnight conditions but still very much in the "August lull".  The garden list for 2021 has now crept past 560 moth species.

     (8th)  93 moths of 47 species; nothing new for the year-list.

     (9th)  189 moths of 70 species; Calybites phasianipennella, Orthotelia sparganella & Pale Eggar all new for the year.   

     (10th)  227 moths of 80 species; Lathronympha strigana, Udea lutealis, Orange Swift & September Thorn all new for the year.

     (11th)  245 moths of 74 species; Ypsolopha horridella & Epagoge grotiana new for the year.

     (12th)  186 moths of 63 species; Acleris laterana the only species new for the year (retained for confirmation because laterana and comariana need dissection to separate, although I've never had the latter here and in fact have only ever seen it once in Bucks).

     (13th)  164 moths of 64 species; nothing new for the year-list.

     (14th)  270 moths of 88 species; Elachista maculicerusella, Argyrotaenia ljungiana, Agriphila geniculea & Gem new for the year.

Calybites phasianipennella (thankfully in its spotted form, making it easy to recognise) and Orthotelia sparganella both on the 9th were very good records indeed for here, the former a first for the garden while the latter was only the second recorded at Westcott after one back in July 2010.

Calybites phasianipennella, Westcott 9th August

Orthotelia sparganella, Westcott 9th August

The temperature held up last night to make it by far the best of the week.  Jersey Tiger appeared again (standard red hind-wings this time), as did two more male Gypsy Moths and an Old Lady, while a smart mid-instar Pale Tussock caterpillar was found crawling up the outside of one of the traps.  The best visitor though was a rather tired-looking male Gem.  A pity it couldn't have been the much smarter female but beggars can't be choosers!  Gem is a very occasional visitor here as a migrant but this is the first I've had in the garden since 2017.

Gem, Westcott 14th August

Further leaf-mines spotted in the garden this week included Stigmella anomalella with the larva still present, this being a regular sighting here on the Dog Rose which we allow to grow through our Blackthorn.  Three recently-vacated mines of Stigmella speciosa were found on a single leaf on our Sycamore, two of which are illustrated below.  I've yet to time it right to find an active mine of this species in the garden so that's one I'll be looking out for again in a month or so.

Mine of Stigmella anomalella on dog rose, Westcott 9th August

Mines of Stigmella speciosa on sycamore, Westcott 14th August

When I brought in the traps at dawn on the 14th I could see a Swallow Prominent minus its abdomen in the actinic Robinson and there was some unidentified scuffling underneath the egg boxes which I assumed would turn out to be one or more of the large predatory carabid beetles which appear here occasionally (hornets, which can also result in the demise of some of the moths, are rare visitors to the garden and in any case after a night in the trap they're usually on their last legs).  When I eventually processed the trap at lunchtime I found the source of the noise...

Brown Long-eared Bats looking for a free meal are a constant nuisance around the lights here, far more so than birds, but this is the first occasion on which I've found one actually inside a trap.       

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks