Stowe garden moths 2021

This year I trapped in the garden with a mix of 20W actinic and 125W MV on 162 nights, whereas for most of last year I used just a 6W actinic, trapping on 140 nights, so year on year comparisons are probably a bit questionable.

Nevertheless, it does seem that Setaceous Hebrew Character had a better year with a count of 454 vs. 36 in 2020; similarly Common Wainscot at 649, was around nine times higher than last year, and was also the most numerous species. These two species were also the most frequently recorded, (i.e. occurred on the most trap-nights). On the other hand, despite the overall total catch being 2.5 times higher, both Lunar Underwing and Common Footman numbers were lower than in 2020, presumably reflecting a genuine decrease. Most numerous micro, as last year, was Chrysoteuchia culmella.

The best night for species diversity was 19^th July, with 89 species—the same night as reported by both Dave W and Peter A. The highest number caught was 443 moths of 39 species on 7^th Sept, with Common Wainscot the highest individual count.

As this was only my second year of mothing I added a lot of new species to the garden list—151 in total, (67 macros, 84 micros), most of which I managed to ID correctly(!), but thanks to Dave for putting me right on numerous occasions and to Peter Hall for ID'ing the species which needed dissection. 

Perhaps most notable among the micros was Platyedra subcinerea which was apparently only the third record for Bucks. Among the macros I was pleased to find Dewick's Plusia, Merveille du Jour (four, but on one night only), Jersey Tiger, Tree-lichen Beauty and Dark Spectacle (which I had passed off as Spectacle, so thanks for picking that up Dave!). I was also delighted and somewhat surprised to get no less than five species of clearwing to lures in the garden—they are beautiful little moths! On the downside, Clifden Nonpareil managed to avoid me, despite regular trapping plus wine ropes deployed at the appropriate time, and despite it turning up regularly nearby in Milton Keynes.  

If I include records from outside the garden as well, it seems, (according to iRecord), that I found 44 new species for my 10 km square SP63, though I think this just reflects the level of recording effort in the square rather than any genuinely unusual finds.

And finally...my youngest granddaughter is quite keen on moths and likes to help inspecting and releasing the catch. One morning, she had a Poplar Hawk-moth on her finger which decided it was time to leave; but instead of heading into the nearest cover it went up and away towards the tree-tops. This was a big mistake, because as we watched, a Spotted Flycatcher suddenly appeared out of nowhere and homing in at high speed like a guided missile quickly snapped it up! I suspect the Spotted Flycatcher didn't need to eat again for quite a while!

Phil T