Thursday 31 October 2013

A bumper haul this morning with 7 moths of 5 species: new for the year were 3 Yellow-line Quakers plus  Common Marbled Carpet, Red-green Carpet, November Moth and LBAM.

Yellow-line Quaker

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Two fairly cold nights each produced a single November Moth in the trap.

November Moth

Monday 28 October 2013

I've been away in Cornwall for a week. Just had the trap out on Saturday night which produced 2 LBAMs and a Red-line Quaker. Not much to report from Cornwall: Kestrel and Clouded Yellow Butterfly pictures below.

 Kestrel

 Clouded Yellow
  

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Colder nights have the cut the moth numbers dramatically. Two days ago I had a completely empty trap. Yesterday there were 4 moths: 2 LBAMs, Silver Y and new for the year a November Moth. This morning there was just 1 moth but again the Red-line Quaker was new for the year.

Red-line Quaker

Saturday 12 October 2013

No moth trap for the last 2 days but I had a good day at Dunge on Thursday despite the very windy conditions. After struggling to see very much we decided just before lunch to have a look for the Great White Egrets at the end of Burrows pit from the viewpoint behind Dennis's hide. There were 3 Great Whites but then the Glossy Ibis flew into view and flew around for quite a while before disppearing into the bushes. After lunch, whilst having a coffee (Rich Roast blend) in the Visitor's Centre, a Black Kite was reported over the ARC pit. We went outside and had fairly distant scope views of the Kite being mobbed by 2 Crows over the Dengemarsh road area.

Great White Egrets
 

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Just 5 moths yesterday including the 2nd Sallow of the Autumn. This morning after a milder night there were 12 moths of 10 species: LBAM, LYU, Lesser YU, Common Marbled Carpet, Silver Y, Copper Underwing, The Mallow, the 1st Chestnut of the Autumn, and the 1st Barred Sallow and Green-brindled Crescent of the year.

Barred Sallow

 Green-brindled Crescent

 The Chestnut

Monday 7 October 2013

Only 7 moths this morning but 7 different species: LBAM, LYU, Common Marbled Carpet, The Mallow, Feathered Ranunculus, Angle Shades and, new for the year , The Sallow.

The Sallow

Sunday 6 October 2013

Not much to report with LYUs, Lesser YUs, and LBAMs making up most of the catch. I had a second Red-green Carpet of the year this morning. I've noticed some mention of it being a good year for Autumn Green Carpet. I would like to see one.

Red-green Carpet

Thursday 3 October 2013

Well the 1st of the month began with 29 moths of 12 species but nothing new, and this morning there were 18 moths of 8 species, with L-Album Wainscot new for the year. Still waiting for some Sallows!

 L-Album Wainscot

Tuesday 1 October 2013

Well we've reached the end of another month. Yesterday produced 34 moths of 10 species and this morning just 18 moths (10 LYUs) of 5 species. However Red-green Carpet was new for the year this morning, and means that I've finally caught up with last year's poor number of 149 macros and 96 micros at the end of September (exactly the same as last year). In 2011 there were 172 macros and 95 micro species at the end of September. So at least in terms of species numbers the micros have been remarkably similar over the last 3 years with the numbers of macro species apparently much more affected by the poor weather both last year and in the first half of this summer.

 Red-green Carpet