Westcott, Bucks

The second half of January started with the lights off for a week, firstly due to extreme cold and then due to Storm Isha, but they were turned on again from the 22nd until the end of the month.  Pale Brindled Beauty and Early Moth have been regulars, the latter now up to 16 individuals which is the highest count I've ever had of it here in January (after 14 in 2011).  I'll probably get a few more records in February before it disappears.  New arrivals for the year-list took a while to appear but eventually comprised Endrosis sarcitrella (29th), Agonopterix heracliana (28th), Acleris kochiella (30th), Acleris hastiana (28th) & Common Quaker (28th), taking the overall January species count of adult moths to five micros and nine macros (57 individuals altogether, a record here for the first month of the year).  The Common Quaker was only my second garden record for January, the other being on the 25th in 2016 - the moth doesn't usually appear here until mid-February at the earliest.

Acleris kochiella, Westcott 30th January

Acleris hastiana, Westcott 28th January

Common Quaker, Westcott 28th January

There has been some interest amongst the non-moths too.  Another leaf beetle turned up on the night of the 22nd, this time the rather pretty Rosemary Beetle Chrysolina americana.  The tiny long-horn Pogonocherus hispidus visited again on the the 23rd (last seen in December), while on the 25th I had two specimens of the water beetle Colymbetes fuscus and the first of many examples of the ichneumon wasp Ophion variegatus which are now turning up every night (they are regulars here in January and February). 

Chrysolina americana, Westcott 22nd January

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks