Things keep getting better....

I am sadly away for the weekend on work business just as things are really warming up. Didn't stop me leaving the trap on last night despite an early morning start and having to check the trap before it had got properly light as a consequence. First garden record of Pale Pinion for garden was the first bonus, Nut-tree Tussock and 2 Waved Umbers were also new for the year in the garden. Early Thorns reached a high of 7 individuals, even had an Engrailed which I'm not sure I've ever had in the garden before, and several Early Greys among lots of other moths (I can't remember all the species or the exact number because I had to leave in such a rush but I think it was over 30 species). Most interestingly, a Common Quaker type caught my bleary eyes in the dim light because it's wing shape wasn't right and it's coloration seemed odd. I potted it and took some very poor photos on my phone before I left and am now emailing from the conference in Southampton to see if anyone can agree or disagree with my first and current identification of Northern Drab. I've put the specimen in the fridge so I can have a better inspection when I get back on Sunday. Happy trapping, Marc Botham, Benson

Unexpected micro

An Agonopterix purpurea was an unexpected inmate of the trap in our Beaconsfield garden.  Dave Ferguson

Tawny Pinion?

I've only been moth trapping for less than a year now and use a bucket and upturned lampshade with a UV bulb to try catch moths so never catch the numbers that most of you do. However this morning I found this moth in my garden moth trap in Aylesbury. It appears to me to be a tawny pinion? If so unless the NBN database is out of date it would be a first for my 10km square. What do others think please?  Ryan Clark

Dig carefully

Lots of Brindled Beauties visiting Thrupp, Oxon, just now: three in my Robinson trap this morning and this whiskery-looking gent yesterday. Happy memories also of Rev Jospeh Greene's Essay on Pupa-digging after narrowly missing this 21mm example with my spade in the veg plot.

Last night also brought my first Powdered Quaker of the year plus 19 Common Quakers, 11 Hebrew Characters, one Small Quaker, one Clouded Drab, an Ophion wasp and a small fly with a large orange tummy. Martin Wainwright

I.d. help, please

A couple of micros caught in Finemere last night i'm not sure of, so i've attatched a couple of photos. A few other species of note from last night were:- Dotted chestnut (1), Lunar marbled brown (4), Frosted green (1), Yellow horned (1) - sorry, Mark, but i might have got these two first! Also had my first ever Blossom underwing back home in my Aylesbury trap, along with my first Nut-tree tussock of this year. Dave Maunder

Some ID help needed

An interesting range of species last night: quite a lot of specimens at the moment are looking very spruce, though it could be that with catches being smaller than in the summer, we're being able to give them more attention than later in the year. Last night's included a very handsome Herald, and what I'm 90% sure was a Water Carpet, which would be a first for the garden.

Herald, 2/4/14

Water Carpet, 2/4/14

However, there were also a couple of species we need confirmation on, and a pair of micros we're not at all sure about: we're pretty sure we had a Powdered Quaker; there was what I think is a slightly unusual-looking Brindled Beauty; a micro which I think may be Caloptilia semifascia; and a micro, of which I failed to take a decent photo, of which I'm not at all sure. All confirmation/suggestions would be very welcome.

Unknown (and poorly photographed) micro, 2/4/14

Possible Caloptilia semifascia, 2/4/14

Possible Brindled Beauty, 2/4/14

Presumed Powdered Quaker, 2/4/14

By the way, I can't find a way of controlling the size of photos - are these OK for size? Sorry for the rather long and photo-heavy post. Steve and Xander Goddard.

The dust that brings the moths....or not

Last night my garden catch was superb in terms of diversity. Numbers of many of the species that have been dominating the trap recently were normal or slightly lower. Mullein was new for the year and very welcome as I tend to only ever see 1 max per year and for some reason it always seems to be just the wings as the local Sparrows seem to have an eye for what to me seems quite a well camouflaged moth. This one was pristine and inside the trap for once. Acleris literana was also new for the garden and I had another Ypsolopha mucronella. There was also a number of other micros including 2 Caloptilia semifascia, Agonopterix subpropinquella, Depressaria chaerophylii (that I failed to photograph the other day and now have another chance to :)), an Eriocrania species (TBI - can make no assumptions as there are not many Oaks in vicinity but there are two birch trees not too far away) and 5 Diamond-back Moths. Were these migrants brought along with the dust, probably not, I have had this species throughout the year in my garden for last two years and the field next to me is full of Rape of which there were lots of volunteer plants dotted about in the field margins over the winter, so I strongly suspect these are locally resident. Marc Botham, Benson

ID & Confirmation?

Good night last night, 6 Small Quaker, 23 Common Quaker, 1 Early Thorn, 3 Early Grey, 1 Clouded Drab, 5 Hebrew Character, 1 Common Plume, 1 Pine Beauty, 2 pugs and something that looks very familiar from pictures but I've not been able to absolutely nail it down - maybe an early Pale Tussock? The pug I thought might be a worn double striped?

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.

Help needed with moth ID

I had 53 moths in the UV garden trap last night, 14 different species. New ones for me this year included Oak Nycteoline, Brindled Beauty and a pair of Early Thorns. There was a single Chestnut, plus a darker similar shaped moth that I am not sure about. I have photographed them together, with the Chestnut on the left, and the moth I need help with on the right.

I had 6 micros in the trap, including Dyseriocrania subpurpurella, which is photographed below. Please tell me if I have the ID wrong!

I also had a Leek Moth, which I identified after looking through earlier blogs and finding Martin Wainwright's picture posted on 17 March.

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Saving the best until last

I've always considered Blossom Underwing to be the nicest of the Orthosias and it is usually the last to appear.  Like one or two other moths it actually looks prettier at night, when viewed under the harsh MV light, than it does in the daytime!  Three appeared at my Skinner MV yesterday evening, which was run in Bernwood Forest, Bucks.  There was little else of note, though, apart from the first Early Tooth-striped of the year and another example of Pammene giganteana.  The latter is restricted to oak woodland and its larvae feed inside wasp galls.  It doesn't look particularly stunning but it is still a nice catch, its early flight season meaning that it is probably under-recorded.  Back home at Westcott the overnight catch was notable only for two new-for-year micros, Caloptilia stigmatella and Epermenia chaerophyllella.  Dave Wilton

Blossom Underwing at Bernwood Forest, 1st April

Early Tooth-striped at Bernwood Forest, 1st April

Pammene giganteana at Bernwood Forest, 1st April



Epermenia chaerophyllella at Westcott, 1st April

Contrasting Red Chestnuts (I think)

A striking contrast between two Red Chestnuts here at Thrupp, Oxon (provided always that my wavery ID skills are correct...)

Both were in the Robinson trap along with a third example plus 26 Common Quakers, 15 Small Quakers, nine Hebrew Characters, nine Clouded Drabs, two Emmelina monodactyla, one Oak Beauty and an Ophion ichneumon wasp - 62 moths from seven species.

Here's hoping the Sahara jetstream brings us something rich and strange.  Martin Wainwright

Pugs

My first Pugs last night, 2 Brindled Pug, 2 Double-striped Pug and my earliest ever V-Pug, a good month earlier than previous years. Also 4 Early Thorn, 3 Early Grey,  Satellite, 14 Common Quaker and 5 of Hebrew Character and Clouded Drab, From my Milton Keynes garden actinic trap.
Darren Seaman

CWBP

I'm a couple of days late to this particular party, but there was a Scorched Carpet on the security lights at the burial park this morning.

Dave Morris

Admin: three months on

Hi all

Three months have now gone by, we're approaching 10,000 page views and it is great to see that the number of posts is increasing in line with the number of moths which are now on the wing.  Long may that continue!

One small problem with so many blogs appearing each day is that ID requests very quickly become relegated to the "Older Posts" page and with that comes the possibility that they might occasionally get overlooked.  Could I therefore ask that, no matter how stunning your images might be, everyone please keeps to the default "Medium" setting when photos are uploaded.  That should save a bit of space on the front page. Should they wish to, viewers can always click on the pictures to see them at a larger size. 

Many thanks!

Dave Wilton

More species

Another quite decent night in Wolvercote, with our first Amblyptilia acanthadactyla and Agonopterix alstromeriana for the year showing up, and a very handsome Flame Shoulder - must have been newly hatched - which I think must be on the early side. Numbers are still a bit on the low side, compared to others' (30 individuals, twelve species), but given that our total this time last year was one record, a Small Quaker from mid-March, it's hard to complain! Steve and Xander Goddard.

Flame Shoulder, 31/3/14

OU

During a walk in Hodgemoor Woods, Bucks yesterday (31st Mar) I saw a presumed Orange Underwing (as opposed to a Light OU) fly up from the moss-covered base of a birch, fly around low for a few moments and then disappear into the trees.

Dave Ferguson

Early Pale Mottled Willow

Another good catch last night in my central Oxford garden with a Twin-spotted Quaker new for my garden and a very early Pale Mottled Willow (is this the first of the year in the county?).

Adam Hartley

Pale Mottled Willow

Twin-spotted Quaker

Dotty

Another excellent night in Thrupp, Oxon, where I was really pleased to host my own Dotted Chestnut after recent reports from Marc and Dave. This one took an interest in my record-keeping and later cadged a lift indoors on my dressing gown.

Also new for me this year: Diurnea fagella and what I take to be Agonopterix alstromeriana, a most beautiful little mite (like my new grandaughter). Pic below with the head of a Common Quaker for scale.

Also in the eggboxes:  32 Common Quaker, 14 Small Quaker, 13 Clouded Drab, 12 Hebrew Character, four Early Thorn, a March moth, a Pine Beauty, a Twin-spotted Quaker and a Satellite which I make to be 82 moths of 12 species.

btw has any further research been done into the possible relationship between Dotted Chestnut larvae and ants, as referred to in the 2003 edition of Waring, Townsend and Lewington?

Thanks once again for all the fascinating info and help on this blog.  Martin Wainwright

Something different.

In the midst of all the good springtime moths coming in now, including pristine Streamers and immaculate Scorched Carpets, I offer this photo of a rather pathetic dead micro. Dead because I caught it on 31 July last year in my back garden in Chorleywood (Bucks): Cosmiotes stabilella, which, dead or alive, I think is unlikely to have its portrait taken too often. A difficult ID and not one I've made before.
Incidentally, Like Dave the other day, I've had a couple of early Scorched Carpets in March, but (just) in Herts.

Migration

Four Diamond-back Moths in the garden trap this morning. First Oak-tree Pug of the year, possibly ever, for the garden, and Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, along with five Early Thorns and the usual suspects (including what seems like this year to be the ever present Dotted Chestnut - have caught this at every site I have trapped so far this year so seems to be having a good year). Also had Agonopterix subpropinquella and Depressaria chaerophylli (escaped as I tried to photograph it!!!) in garden trap night before. Marc Botham, Benson

Oak-tree Pug, Benson, 31/03/2014

Agonopterix subpropinquella, Benson, 30/03/2014

Crackers amongst the Quakers

Had a good night with the Robinson trap in my garden in Sonning last night - 30th March - dozens of Quakers and 11 macro-spp in total, including Oak Nycteoline and Pine Beauty. Also the best night so far this year for micros including Agonopterix alstromeriana, Tachystola acroxantha, Eriocrania subpurpurella and Emmelina monodactyla.

Oak Nycteoline

Pine Beauty

My garden trap (mid-Bucks) was unusually productive on Sunday night, and ended up with a total of 83 macro-moths of 14 species, which feels a bit more like spring has started! Martin Harvey

Dotted Chestnut - first in the garden since 2010

Grey Shoulder-knot - first in the garden since 2009 and only the third I've seen here

Back to trapping

It didn't seem worth putting the trap out much of the last fortnight, and I was away over the last weekend, but we did put it out last night and had a reasonable catch: 28 individuals of ten species, several of them new for the year. They included a couple of very impressive Early Thorns and what I'm pretty confident were a Double-striped Pug and a Brindled Beauty. There were at least three Clouded Drabs, too, and I suspect the individual I've posted below is just another one, but as it looked slightly different, I thought I'd put it up in case it's considered a possible Lead-coloured... Steve and Xander Goddard

Early Thorn, 30/3/14

Brindled Beauty, 30/3/14

Double-striped Pug, 30/3/14

Drab sp., 30/3/14

Drab sp., 30/3/14

Stepping Up a Gear in Central Oxford

The arrival of the warm weather has meant that suddenly the mothing in my central Oxford urban garden has stepped up a gear. I've gone from catches of single digits up to the giddy heights of 27 moths yesterday. As well as the usual fare there were lots of Double-striped Pugs, 2 Early Thorns and a couple of garden firsts with a Herald and a Small Quaker. I can also report lots of Scarlet Tiger larvae in the garden over the weekend.

Adam Hartley

Lots of Double-striped Pugs suddenly

One of two Early Thorns

Sadly this Herald (a garden first) has seen better days

My first Small Quaker for the garden as well

Little Wittenham (VC 22)

No epic trans-county journeying for me, in fact I travelled very little distance but did manage some vice-county hopping instead: only stayed out for 2 hours at Little Wittenham Woods, but saw a fair number of moths. Flame Shoulder was new for the year and am fairly sure my earliest record for this species. Was nice to finally catch up with a couple of Pine Beauties among the usual crowd. Marc Botham, Benson

Salcey Forest

From one end of Bucks to the other ... last night it was the turn of Salcey Forest to get an early trapping session (the site is all in present-day Northants although for recording purposes the south-east corner, my destination, lies within VC24).  The usual three hour session with two MV lights produced well over 700 moths of 30 species but the only new ones for me this year were Semioscopis steinkellneriana, Pammene giganteana, Water Carpet, Red-green Carpet and White-marked.  As Marc noted yesterday, White-marked is a very nice moth to get and it is worth looking closely at any worn Red Chestnuts.  Back home at Westcott it was surprising that anything reached my actinic trap because at least four Brown Long-eared Bats were constantly on patrol around the light.  14 species did make it through, though, including singletons of Caloptilia rufipennella (the less common orangey-brown spotty form), Agonopterix arenella and Powdered Quaker.  Dave Wilton

White-marked at Salcey Forest (VC24) 30th March

Water Carpet at Salcey Forest (VC24) 30th March

Caloptilia rufipennella at Westcott, Bucks 30th March