Slender Burnished Brass

The second Oxon VC 23 Slender Burnished Brass came to MV at Middle Assendon last night. The first record was in 1969 caught by Kettlewell. That's not counting the one that came out of a bunch of flowers in Witney in 2009. Wayne is happy to show it to anyone who wants to see it today. If so please email me and I will forward your message.


This and the gilvata prove what Dave was saying - keeping trapping - you never know. Wayne also had vitrealis last week. He's using one of my Robinsons

- I must remember to mark it as the lucky trap !

Martin

Only 3

Three moths last night (Min 8 degrees). One this Rusty-dot Pearl.

Steve Lockey (Garsington).

Migrants Still

Only two moths in my trap in Longwick tonight - but both presumably migrants. A Rusty Dot Pearl and a rather fine Palpita Vitrealis.

Turnip moth

A Turnip moth entered my Radnage, Bucks house tonight. Another late sighting.
Ched George.

Uresiphita gilvata

I've not had much of note in my garden trap recently until i looked in this morning and found a nice specimen of Uresiphita gilvata - quite a scarce species so i'm told by Peter Hall, and a possible first for Bucks. A couple of poor quality pictures are attatched, as it is pretty lively in the pot and already escaped once this morning, but thankfully it returned to my garden trap this morning! Dave Maunder

Uresiphita gilvata, Aylesbury, 11-11-2015

Grey Shoulder-knot

A Grey Shoulder-knot came to my Radnage garden MV trap last night. Also run-of-the-mill Feathered Thorn, Angle Shades, Yellow-line Quaker, a single Red-line Quaker, Blair's Shoulder-knot, 6 Red-green Carpets and a LBAM. Alas, still no sign of Figure-of-Eight.
Ched George.

Common Emerald

This in Middle Assendon to MV on 9th November. Also recently Plumed Prominent and Palpita vitrealis, caught by Wayne Borras.

Swallow-tailed Moth, yes that's right!

Thought I was imagining things this morning when sat on the grass next to the trap at the beginning of the second week in November there was a fresh Swallow-tailed Moth. I've had second brood individuals of this species in the past but never this late. What a crazy year. Marc Botham, Didcot

Swallow-tailed Moth, Didcot, 10th November.

More fog, or at least smoke

Just to add more data to Steve's fog research, we caused dense clouds of artificial fog with fireworks last night. The cordite smell lingered until late but this morning there were moths in the trap, albeit only four: a Feathered Thorn, a November/Autumnal, a Blair's Shoulder-knot and this Dark Sword-grass (I hope my ID for that is correct).  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Satellite night

Mild weather and clear skies early on brought out three Satellites here last night, two browny ones and the third with the bright eye. In addition to the man-made kind whirling overhead. Also three Feathered Thorns, two Red-green Carpet, two battered Quakerish things and a November/Autumnal.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon.

The Bonfire Night Moth

Bonfire Night is usually the prompt to go looking for Plumed Prominent, a smart nationally scarce species which we are lucky to have in a few Chiltern woodlands in the vicinity of Henley-on-Thames but which flies at this very unsociable time of year.  The forecast seemed more suitable last night than on the 5th so I went to one of its known sites in south Bucks.  As usual, the Met Office got it hopelessly wrong and I was rained on for most of the time I was there, but at least it remained mild and the rain didn't stop the moths (or, for that matter, a couple of very late Hornets).

In the usual three hour period from dusk, now very early of course because it was fully dark by 5.15pm, I saw 20 species.  They included Ypsolopha parenthesella, Ypsolopha ustella, Diurnea lipsiella, Acleris cristana, Acleris sparsana, Alucita hexadactyla, Oak Nycteoline and Snout as well as the expected seasonal macro-moths.  Thankfully, after last year's experience when I had to make three visits before seeing just one moth, at this site two Plumed Prominents turned up on time, a male and a female (just to prove that you don't have to wait all night to see the lady of this species).  Home by 9.30pm too - can't be bad!

Plumed Prominent male, 6th November

Plumed Prominent female, 6th November

Tea-cake anyone?   Plumed Prominent eggs

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Ypsolopha mucronella

This was the only moth attracted to our house lights last night.

Nigel

Another Cypress Carpet

Ched George had a Cypress Carpet in his Radnage, Bucks garden trap on 3rd November.

Unseasonal: Cryptoblabes bistriga

Cryptoblabes bistriga in garden trap last night along with two Acleris schalleriana. only migrants were Silver Y and Dark Sword-grass. Night before was interesting as micros dominated another low, but better than has been recently catch: Clepsis consimilana, Acleris schalleriana, Acleris sparsana, lots of Ephiphyas postvittana, Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, Scrobipalpa costella, Eudonia angustea. Marc Botham, Didcot

Cryptoblabes bistriga - Didcot 05/11/2015

IDs please

Three tired out moths this morning.

Sorry about the first picture, I opened the pot and it was gone. Maybe a faded Garden Rose Tortrix or something else?

The second I'm guessing is a knackered November agg.?

The third a tired Yellow Line Quaker? Or maybe my first Brick?

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Emoth newsletter

The latest "Emoth" newsletter is available from the National Moth Recording Scheme, via Zoe Randle at Butterfly Conservation.

Zoe says:
"Here is the latest edition of E-moth, it contains the usual update on the National Moth Recording Scheme, the programme for the National Moth Recorders’ Meeting on Saturday 30th January 2016, feedback about Moth Night 2015 and some other interesting snippets. Please feel free to pass E-moth onto others or include parts of it in your own newsletters, websites etc."

Click on the image to read the newsletter:

A better night

Reasonably mild and damp in my garden last night, without any fog, so I was pleased to get 29 moths of 18 different species. Migrants were limited to 1 Angle Shades and 1 Rush Veneer.
There were a few new ones for the year as well - Sprawler (1), Large Wainscot (1 - many thanks Martin Wainwright for sending one down), Dark Chestnut (1) and what I think is a rather faded Yellow-line Quaker based on the black dot near the wing base - photo below.

Here is my Dark Chestnut -

Finally, the moth below I have decided is a Feathered Thorn, but I was thrown a bit by the fact that the usual whitish spot near the wing tip is missing.

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Flame Shoulder

There are still some very interesting migrants around and we look set to keep warmer than usual nights for a little longer yet, so anything could turn up in your trap!  My garden actinic had another reasonably busy night for the time of year (59 moths of 22 species) but unfortunately there was no sign at all of migration apart from Angle Shades of which another three appeared - if these aren't migrants then it is having an exceptionally good autumn brood around here.  A week or so ago Martin Townsend asked us to keep an eye open for Radford's Flame Shoulder.  I did have a Flame Shoulder in last night's trap but sadly it wasn't Radford's!  It is still a noteworthy record for November, though, accompanied as it was by a pair of Winter Moths which were my first of the season.

Flame Shoulder, Westcott 3rd November

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
 

Another Turnip for the books?

After yesterdays query and plumping for Turnip Moth this turned up this morning (FW18mm)-very light and extremely well marked. Are we talking same species?.

Steve Lockey (Garsington)

First moth for over a week

A LYU and this which I suspect is a poorly marked Light brown apple moth.

Tom Stevenson, Benson

Scarce Umber

My first Scarce Umber of the season came to the garden trap last night.  Also caught were Agonopterix heracliana (1), Blastobasis lacticolella (2), Nomophila noctuella/Rush Veneer (1), Red-green Carpet (1), Spruce Carpet (1), November Moth agg (4), Feathered Thorn (1), Large Yellow Underwing (3), Setaceous Hebrew Character (1), Sprawler (1), Grey Shoulder-knot (1), Green-brindled Crescent (2), Satellite (1), Dark Chestnut (1), Red-line Quaker (4), Yellow-line Quaker (1), Beaded Chestnut (5) & Sallow (1).  Another Pale Pinion had been amongst a far smaller collection of moths (just 8 individuals of 7 species) which came to the trap during the previous night's thick fog.

Nomophila noctuella, Westcott 2nd November

Scarce Umber, Westcott 2nd November

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Pearly Underwing?

9 Moths of 7 species last night up here on the hill. 2 Dark Sword-grass and this fellow which I think might be a Pearly Underwing?.

Steve Lockey (Garsington)

More on fog

I was very interested in Steve's fog experiment and Heathrowish conclusions (Dave can no doubt speak from professional experience on this). Inspired by his post, I put the trap out last night when the fog was as clammy as felltop mist.

The result this morning, for possible interest to fog/moth surveyors was: Large Wainscot (3 - sorry, Dave; I keep pointing them in the direction of the A34)), Red Green Carpet (3 or poss 2 depending on the kindly experts' view of my pics here), Autumn Green Carpet (poss 1, depending similarly), Red-line Quaker (2), December moth (2), Setaceaous Hebrew Character (2), Yellow-line Quaker (1), Sprawler (1), Winter/Autumnal/etc moth (1), Feathered Thorn (1) and Angle Shades (1).  I'd be very grateful for a decision on the three Carpets shown here; I am assuming all Red-green but wondered if the last might be AGC.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Wainscot?

hi, can someone help me with this one? I was hoping for a Large Wainscot but it seems more like the Bulrush - but again doesn't quite fit.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Agrotis trux and other things

Very interested to see the records of trux, labecula and what for me is most definitely caniola, although I have asked Martin Corley to have a look at it as he has worked on this genus. It would just be nice if something decent could turn up in VC 23 ! I have been waiting to see if labecula would spread north since I saw it at Durlston CP in 2005 and these are the first signs I have heard of (although there may be others I've forgotten about).

I missed Marc's photo of trux back in August. I saw no mention of which race it could be. However, this looks much more like our trux lunigera than the highly variable and very common continental trux trux, so probably a wind-blown vagrant rather than an immigrant, the nearest source location being Hampshire, by the look of it.

Fog

While some of you further north and west were enjoying some lovely sunshine yesterday, here in the Thames Valley it was very grey and misty. It subsequently became even foggier towards evening, so as an experiment I put my MV trap out in the garden to see if any moths would find it.
The result - a completely empty trap this morning. So perhaps it is not only the planes at Heathrow that are grounded in foggy conditions.

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Six-hundred and forty!

At yesterday's excellent members' day for Upper Thames Branch of Butterfly Conservation, Marc Botham provided a splendid overview of the year's moths, including mention of his own discovery of Crescent Dart, which was the 639th macro-moth species to be added to the Berkshire list. But almost while he was speaking the number had gone up again: Mark Calway had brought along a moth he had trapped in Reading over the previous couple of nights, and this is now confirmed as Oak Rustic (Dryobota labecula), which is the 640th macro for the county!

Berkshire is a reasonably well-recorded county, and while micro-moths are added to the county list on a fairly regular basis, a new macro species is a much rarer event, so two new species in one year is cause for celebration.

It's fun to speculate on where new species have come from, although it's rarely possible to be certain. The most likely explanation for Marc's Crescent Dart is that it dispersed (or was caught in strong winds) from one of its coastal colonies, although migration from the continent probably can't be ruled out. Crescent Dart seems unlikely to become a Berkshire resident species.

Mark's Oak Rustic may also have been a migrant from over the channel, but it is established in Hampshire and some of the other south coastal counties, so this could also be an unusually long-distance dispersal from there, or perhaps it is the start of a more significant expansion of range inland. Time will tell! It feeds on Evergreen Oak, which is planted quite widely, so there is certainly the chance that it will become a familiar species in the future.

UPDATE: Mike Wall tells me that Oak Rustic has been recorded at Pamber Forest this year, and Steve Nash says that it has also been found near Guildford in the last week or two, so it does seem to be creeping inland.

Photos of Mark Calway's Oak Rustic, taken by Martin Harvey

Coleshill moths

Only a handful of moths overnight in the garden at Coleshill (VC 22) but this footman was unexpected. A very late Scarce Footman, or something more interesting?

Diurnea lipsiella (male) was the only new species, if my ID is correct.

Diurnea lipsiella?

Scarce Footman?

Scarce Footman?

Scarce/Hoary Footman hindwing

Olly Fox
Coleshill

A small upswing

Catches in Wolvercote, Oxon, remain a little lower than elsewhere, when we get the trap out at all, but recent days have seen a few familiar autumn species emerge (along with regular Novembrals, Red-green Carpets, etc.). For starters, Feathered Thorn is always nice to get, and it was good to see both coloured-line Quakers on the same day, having missed out on Yellow-line last year.

Feathered Thorn, 26/10/15

Yellow- and Red-line Quaker, 26/10/15

We think that on 30th October we had what appears to be our first ever Dark Chestnut, though I'd have sworn we've seen that before - not, however, according to our records! Confirmation of that - or other suggestions - would be much appreciated. We had on 27th October what looks like a Spruce Carpet (sorry for the dodgy photo quality) - not a Juniper Carpet like the one Martin Wainwright had recently; and an individual on 30th which reminds me of a Frosted Orange (not a species we've had this year at all), but on inspection doesn't appear to be; again, suggestions, please!

Presumed Dark Chestnut, 30/10/15

Presumed Spruce Carpet, 27/10/15

I had thought Frosted Orange at first, but not so sure now! 30/10/15

Finally, a couple of micros from 30th October - both the same species, we think, and we assume Acleris sparsana - again, does that seem right?

Steve and Xander Goddard

Presumed Acleris sparsana, 30/10/15

Presumed Acleris sparsana 2, 30/10/15

Buff Ermine caterpillar?

Found this while I was weeding. Also a comma out, first time I can remember seeing a butterfly on my birthday.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

What-ember?

Thrupp, Oxon, this morning. Something needs to be done about moths' knowledge of the months (see also Thorns).  Martin Wainwright.