July has arrived. At the end of June the garden moth list stood at 175, which doesn't compare well to last year (not the best year year ever either), when it sttood at 222 at the same stage. However Barred Red was new for the garden list, and other interesting species included: Barred Yellow, The Festoon, Maple Prominent (2nd record), Epiblema foenella, Peach Blossom and 3 species of Clearwing-Currant, Orange-tailed and Red-belted. 

 Barred Red

 

                                                                         Maple Prominent

 

                                                                       Epiblema foenella

                                                                  

Orange-tailed Clearwing

 

At the end of May the garden moth list stands at 101for the year which compares favourably with last year with only 59 by the same stage. During the month Epiblema scutulana was a new one for the garden. I don't have many interesting bird sightings for the month in Kent, but I did go on a trip to Peru, from which more photos can be found on my Flickr site.

Epiblema scutulana

 

Diademed (Sandpiper) Plover

 

Many-coloured Rush-tyrant

 

Inca Tern

At the end of April the garden moth list has advanced to 43-a bit better than last year at this stage. A new micro for the site was Caloptilia honoratella. Interesting birds seen during April included the immature White-tailed Sea Eagle on Sheppey, the Ring Ouzel at Oare Marshes and a White Wagtail at Dungeness.

Caloptilia honoratella

Ring Ouzel

 

Sea Eagle

 

White Wagtail

 At the end of March the garden moth list stands at 26 which is slightly better than the same period last year when it stood at 23. Highlight of the month was Zelleria hepariella, which was new for the site. Grey Shoulder-knot was only my 4th and the first for 10 years, and C. stigmatella is always nice to see. Best bird of the month was the Green-winged Teal at Seasalter on the 31st.

 Zelleria hepariella

 

Grey Shoulder-knotC. 

 

Caloptilia stigmatella

 

Green-winged Teal

 

February brought a milder spell of weather so by the end of the month the garden moth list had reached 14, mostly consisting of the usual suspects but Tawny Pinion was only my 2nd record. There were also 2 examples of Acleris cristana and one of Acleris ferrugana/notana. I also went on a trip to South Africa during the month and pictures, mostly from the Kruger National Park, can be found on my Flickr site. 

Tawny Pinion

 

Acleris cristana

 

Acleris ferrugana/notana

 

Leopards-Kruger National Park

I seem to have missed my end of month posting for January, probably because I recorded only 1 moth in the whole month: a Light brown Apple Moth. On the plus side 3 species of Owl were seen.

Long-eared Owl

 

Short-eared Owl

Barn Owl

We've reached the end of another year with 367 species of Moth recorded in the garden, which is 37 fewer than the previous year. However, there were 15 species new for the Garden List bringing it to 745. Blue-bordered Carpet was my favourite of these. Interesting birds seen in December were Great Northern and Black-throated Divers at Dungeness, Whooper and Bewick's Swans on Walland Marsh and a single Waxwing at Graveney. 

 Waxwing

Wild Swans

Black-throated Diver

Great Northern Diver

Blue-bordered Carpet