After a big catch of (31) December Moths two nights ago, I had to stop releasing them as my local Robins had spotted what was going on and would have made short work of them. So I decided I'd keep them in the trap for the day and then open it after dark, which I did.
Out of curiosity I checked at 10:00 pm to see whether they had gone, to find they were all still there, despite it being a mild night for the time of the year (~ 10°C). And when I checked again this morning,all but two were still present! Had it been cold I could perhaps have expected it, but it seemed a bit odd. When I have done this before everything usually departs soon after dusk, though as far as I recall, I've not done it before at this time of year.
I shall leave them in the trap again today and see what happens tonight!
Phil T
Hi Phil,
ReplyDelete31 is an impressive number of December Moths! I only see totals like that when trapping in woodland. I've never managed a double-digit count in the garden and the highest ever is eight which was achieved only a couple of nights ago (the moth seems to be having a very good season this year).
I'm surprised your moths haven't dispersed as soon as it got dark. The males seem to fly quite early in the night.
Hi Phil, you could wait until it gets dark tonight and then take them out of the trap and disperse them in surrounding vegetation.
ReplyDeleteThe 31 were split between two traps, 24 in the MV and 7 in the actinic. I do have quite a number of mature trees in the garden, mainly ash, but also oak, poplar, birch, willow, alder and sycamore plus a patch of blackthorn, so maybe the moths see it as semi-woodland! There are a couple of small patches of wood ~200m away as well.
ReplyDeleteIf December Moths are doing well here, the opposite appears to be the case for Mottled Umber. Only one so far in the garden this year.
I have also had good numbers of December Moths over the last week just using a 20W blacklight. The counts have been 5,5,14,26,7,10,5. I always put my moths in an old wastepaper basket with a grid on top and I have noticed that the males in particular often don't leave the following night. On the other hand quite a few of the females have flown off as soon as the trap has been opened in the morning.
ReplyDelete