Westcott, Bucks

Overall catches here have still been quite reasonable, generally around 90 species per night and well in excess of 100 on the 21st and 29th, but with a continuing downwards trend in newcomers for the garden list.  That list is now almost at 600 species for the year which means that a final tally above 700 ought to be on the cards, as it was in 2021.  New adult moth arrivals at Westcott since the last report on 21st July have been as follows:

     (21st)  Phyllonorycter harrisella, Jersey Tiger, Four-spotted Footman, Dark Spectacle, Dewick's Plusia, Copper Underwing.

     (22nd)  Lyonetia prunifoliella, Galleria mellonella, Toadflax Brocade.

     (23rd)  Cydalima perspectalis.

     (24th)  Oxypteryx atrella, Recurvaria leucatella, Mouse Moth.

     (25th)  Tawny Speckled Pug, Red Underwing, Small Rufous.

     (26th)  Zelleria hepariella, Argyresthia pruniella, Acleris emargana, Gypsy Moth.  

     (27th)  Acleris laterana, Phycitodes maritima, Agriphila selasella.

     (28th)  Raspberry Clearwing (daytime, to HYL lure), Toadflax Pug, Oak Processionary, Flounced Rustic.

     (29th)  Agonopterix purpurea, Epagoge grotiana, Acleris aspersana, Gypsonoma minutana, Epiblema costipunctana, Fen Wainscot.

     (30th)  Oegoconia sp., Pandemis corylana.

     (31st)  Bryotropha domestica.  

Lyonetia prunifoliella, Westcott 22nd July

Epiblema costipunctana, Westcott 29th July

Gypsonoma minutana, Westcott 29th July

Likely Phycitodes maritima, Westcott 27th July

Jersey Tiger, Westcott 21st July

Fen Wainscot, Westcott 29th July

Best of the bunch for me was the Fen Wainscot (29th), only the second ever to visit the garden after one in 2018.  The Jersey Tiger (21st) was followed by another on the 26th and then nightly appearances from the 28th onwards, the majority of them f. lutescens with yellow hind-wings and always to the actinic rather than the MV.  The Raspberry Clearwing (28th) was new for the site, a rather battered male which turned up close to 7pm after the pheromone had been out in the garden all afternoon.  It seems to be a fact that they can appear at lures quite late in the day.  Acleris laterana & Phycitodes maritima are annual visitors but will still be checked, although their confusion species (Acleris comiarana & Phycitodes saxicola respectively) don't seem to appear here.  The Oegoconia (30th) will also need to be checked as both deauratella (usually the first) and quadripuncta are garden regulars.

Dark Sword-grass, Westcott 22nd July

This period saw several visits by migrant moth species but unfortunately there was nothing at all unusual amongst them.  They comprised Udea ferrugalis/Rusty-dot Pearl (singletons on 21st & 27th), Nomophila noctuella/Rush Veneer (four on 21st, four on 27th, singletons on 28th & 29th, three on 31st) & Dark Sword-grass (singletons on 22nd, 23rd, 27th & 31st).  The Four-spotted Footman would in the past have been included here too but the visitor on the 21st could easily have been a wanderer from the thriving population I found earlier in July in a wood only a couple of miles away on the Waddesdon Estate.

Numbers-wise, Brimstone Moth and Flame Shoulder seem to be doing very well just at the moment (24 and 47 respectively last night), as are the Common/Lesser Common Rustic pair still, but the Footman moths are thankfully winding down with only Dingy appearing in any numbers now (30 last night). Webb's Wainscot has been a regular here since 2014, putting in one or two seasonal appearances, but its numbers seem to have picked up this year with a further six visitors already since the first on 18th July, including two last night.  It has also been good to see the uncommon all-white crambid Sitochroa palealis, in the past only a very occasional visitor to the garden, which has put in four appearances so far. 

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks