Westcott, Bucks

Now that the autumn species have started flying in earnest, Sunday night's moth count in the garden (261 moths of 40 species) was fairly typical of current catches.  Lunar Underwing accounted for 75 of them, while Black Rustic (46) and Large Yellow Underwing (37) provided the other high counts.  New arrivals for the year-list over the past ten nights have slowed considerably:

     (16th)  Beaded Chestnut, Blair's Shoulder-knot

     (18th)  L-album Wainscot

     (19th)  Barred Sallow

     (21st)  Green-brindled Crescent

     (24th)  Pine Carpet, Dusky-lemon Sallow

L-album Wainscot, Westcott 18th September

Green-brindled Crescent, Westcott 21st September

Dusky-lemon Sallow, Westcott 24th September

Apart from the new arrivals there hasn't been a great deal of interest over this period.  A melanic example of Cydalima perspectalis appeared on the 16th (only the second I've seen here of that form).  Unlike some other gardens in our three counties this moth has yet to become a nuisance around my traps although it is certainly appearing much more frequently now (yet another singleton appeared here last night, 25th).  A late Yellow-tail turned up on the 16th and, as expected, there have been further visits from Clifden Nonpareil (including a pair in the same trap on the 20th) with the garden total for 2023 now standing at six individuals.  The year's second example of Buttoned Snout turned up at a lit window on the 21st while another Pinion-streaked Snout visited the trap on the 24th along with a male Vapourer.    

Cydalima perspectalis, Westcott 16th September

Yellow-tail, Westcott 16th September

Vapourer, Westcott 24th September

Migrants have been few and far between over this period.  Several species are currently around in exceptional numbers even this far inland but the only one to have reached Westcott is Delicate which has now achieved double figures in the garden since the first this year on 25th June.  This could be another Mythimna species in the process of becoming established in the southern UK, following in the footsteps of  White-point and L-album Wainscot.     

There are actually very few new species left now which could be added to this year's garden list.  The only macro-moths which I can guarantee to get which haven't already been seen are December Moth, Spruce Carpet, November Moth, Pale November Moth, Feathered Thorn, Scarce Umber, Figure of Eight, Sprawler, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker, Brick & Merveille du Jour.  There are one or two other possibilities like Autumnal Moth or Northern Winter Moth which are occasional autumn sightings here, while Oak Rustic also springs to mind (it appeared in November 2019 but hasn't been seen since), but anything else will be down to luck.  We're still in peak migrant season, of course, and you never know what long-distance travellers might yet turn up, which is why it is worth persevering even though the season is winding down.

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks