Much as you might expect, the first half of December proved to be very quiet in the garden. Ten different adult moth species were recorded (Plutella xylostella, Mompha jurassicella, Acleris schalleriana, Udea ferrugalis, December Moth, Winter Moth, Feathered Thorn, Scarce Umber, Mottled Umber & Red-line Quaker) but Storm Darragh mid-way through this period seemed to finish off many species as well as providing me with three blank nights. Apart from the appearance of another December Moth last night (15th), the past week has seen only two of those ten species making continued visits and, unsurprisingly, they were Winter Moth and Mottled Umber.
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| Mottled Umbers, Westcott 10th December |
A Scarce Umber on 4th December was the latest I've had that species in the garden (until now they've always been confined to November here). It also proved to be the 40th individual this year which is a site record, the previous high being 29 in 2023 - a rare good news story amongst this year's moths.
Merry Christmas one and all. Not long now before the counter is reset to zero and we start all over again in 2025, which surely has to be a better year than 2024?!
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
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