I've trapped away from home in Bucks for the last three nights in a row, making good use of the warm weather, and there were indeed plenty of moths to be seen although very little of particular interest to report. On the chalk grassland at Grangelands on Monday night (6th) there was nothing unexpected, with Pretty Chalk Carpet still going strong (nine seen) and visits to the traps by Gypsy Moth males (four) and Jersey Tiger (one) although those two are expected pretty much anywhere in the county these days. Tuesday night (7th) in woodland near Silverstone I had an unusually high count of Vapourer Moth males (11 of them between two lights) but perhaps the most interesting thing there was my first ever September record of Pale Oak Beauty. It is normally a moth of May and June but the flight period chart in the BC Atlas does give a hint that occasional second-brood specimens have been recorded post-millennium.
 |
| Pale Oak Beauty, north Bucks 7th September |
Last night (8th) I trapped on farmland near Tingewick, Bucks and was very pleased to get nearly 90 species, including in excess of 600 Common Wainscots. Sightings of autumnal species there included my first records this year of Brown-spot Pinion and Lunar Underwing, while I had my third ever visit to the traps of a Speckled Wood butterfly.
 |
| Speckled Wood, Tingewick 8th September |
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
Similarly, I also had a Pale Oak Beauty, in the garden trap yesterday morning, a very worn one. I almost overlooked it as a Willow Beauty.
ReplyDeleteBy way of contrast I ran my 20 W actinic overnight in a private wood near Silverstone...and caught 18 moths of ten species!
ReplyDelete