Finemere Wood, Bucks

The usual three-hour session from dusk at Finemere last night produced very little between the two MV traps deployed, only 35 species putting in an appearance.  However they did include some of the moths I'd hoped to see, of which Oak Lutestring was probably the most important.  It is a difficult species to find locally, having seemingly all but disappeared from Bernwood Forest where it was common in the 1980s.  There has been only one subsequent record of it at Bernwood (in 2006) and that's despite me searching for it there annually over the last ten or more years.  Luckily, like Burnham Beeches in the south of the county, Finemere is still a reliable site for the moth and three came to light last night.  

Oak Lutestring, Finemere Wood 11the September

Oak Lutestring, Finemere Wood 11th September

Other species seen as expected were Pale Eggar (uncommon locally away from my garden and the RIS trap at Marsh Gibbon which sadly ceased operations last year) and Figure of Eight which both turned up to the traps.  However, I still await an adult Clifden Nonpareil in the wood despite the presence of aspen and a larval record there a couple of years ago.  It was perhaps still a little early for most of the autumn noctuids apart from Centre-barred Sallow, but a single fresh Brindled Green did put in an appearance.

Figure of Eight, Finemere Wood 11th September

Brindled Green, Finemere Wood 11th September

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks