Westcott, Bucks

What a lovely Spring day it was today, with the temperature reaching 18C here this afternoon.  While pottering about in the garden I decided to put out the EMP lure quite late on, at 4.15pm.  Much to my surprise a male Emperor Moth turned up ten minutes later and after a further ten minutes a second one appeared as if to prove this wasn't just a fluke - they're out very early this year!

Emperor Moth, Westcott 22nd March

I removed winter covers from various pieces of garden furniture this afternoon and underneath one on a bench close to last night's trap were half a dozen Orthosias which I'd missed, including my first Blossom Underwing of the year.  Good job I found that one because I only get one or two a year here at the most!  Another daytime discovery today was Acrolepia autumnitella flying around inside the shed.

Blossom Underwing, Westcott 22nd March

Acrolepia autumnitella, Westcott 22nd March

Other recent additions to this year's garden list have been Diurnea fagella (15th), Ypsolopha mucronella (17th), Yellow Horned (17th), Agonopterix arenella (20th) and Powdered Quaker (21st).  Nothing unexpected there, you might think, but I was over the moon to get Yellow Horned because that's a first for the garden - the second new species this year already!  A record image of it, taken in poor light, appears below.

Yellow Horned, Westcott 17th March

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks