Not much to report on the moth front. Yesterday there were 36 moths of 13 species (20 Flounced Rustics) and this morning after the coldest night for some time (9c) there were 23 moths of just 4 species: 17 Flounced Rustics, 3 Square-spot Rustics 2 Lesser Yellow Underwings, and 1 Pale Mottled Willow. However, I had a good day at Dungeness today seeing my 1st Roseate Tern for 9 Years and my 1st Wryneck for 5. Also on the RSPB Reserve I had a brief view of the Lesser Emperor Dragonfly which was only the 2nd I've seen and the first for 12 years. We did try to find it again but it proved very elusive. Not so difficult were the Migrant Hawkers which made a good photoghraph. There was also a Common Emperor on the power station wall, but the backgound could have been better.

Wryneck

 Migrant Hawker (m)

Emperor

47 moths (25 Flounced Rustics) of 17 species this morning. Nothing new for year. However, there was my 2nd record this year of Metalampra italica. Hoping for something autumnal soon.

Metalampra italica

A rainy but mild night (15.5c) produced 75 moths (28 Flounced Rustics) of 26 species this morning. New for the year was Eudonia angustea.

Eudonia angustea

12c minimum last night and 65 moths of 27 species in the trap including a nice Light Emerald. Nothing new for the year. Went to the Lydden Kent Wildlife Trust reserve this morning-1st visit this year. The Adonis Blues & Silver-spotted Skippers were showing well, with 1 or 2 rather worn Chalkhill Blues. However, it became very breezy which made photography a bit tricky. There were cattle grazing in the 2nd main field with a Bull present, which I gave a wide berth to.

 Adonis Blue

 Silver-spotted Skipper

         

Numbers down again with 44 moths of 21 species. Garden Pebble new for the year.

Garden Pebble

Heavy showers overnight meant there was just 61 moths of 27 species. New for the year was Grey/Dark Dagger-the first for 2 years.

Grey/Dark Dagger

Numbers falling now with 53 moths of 25 species. Nothing new for the year. Had the 5th Rosy Rustic of the year.

Rosy Rustic

Cooler again (12c) last night. This morning there were 75 moths of 31 species. New for the year and only my 2nd garden record was a Peacock Moth, which this time I managed to photograph it. It's been a particularly good year for Dark Spinach. I've had 16 over the previous 12 years but another 11so far this year.  

Peacock Moth

A cooler night (13.5c) produced 81 moths of 36 species. New for the garden list was the micro Agonopterix nervosa. New for the year were the Bud Moth (Spilonota ocellana) and White-point.

Agonopterix nercosa

 White-point

97 moths of 38 species this morning. Two micros were potentially new for the garden list. However, one of them can't really be identified to species level. They are: Agriphila latistria & a Coleophora species which might be C. lineola.

Agriphila latistria

 Coleophora lineola?

Another warm night (16c) produced 125 moths of 35 species. New for the year were my 4th ever Clay Triple-lines (1st for 4 years), Small Dusty Wave, and my 3rd ever Pine Carpet (1st for 2 years).

Clay Triple-lines

 Small Dusty Wave

A slightly cooler night with a low of 17c produced 108 moths of 34 species, including 24 LBAMs. New for the year was Shaded Broad-bar, & potentially new for the garden was another micro which I believe is Bactra robustana. I realise that this identity is slightly speculative but it looks very much like the one on the Hants Moths website.

Shaded Broad-bar

 Bactra robustana?

 Bactra robustana?

The warmest night of the year so far with a low of 21c produced my biggest catch of 155 moths of 48 species. New for the garden list were: Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix and Minor Shoulder-knot, althought he latter was a rather worn specimen unfortunately. Also new for the year were Metalampra italica & Old Lady. M. italica was my 3rd garden record following 2 last year, (which was the first year it was recorded in Kent I believe.)

Metalampra italica

Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix

Another humid night with a low of 17c. Despite being breezy this was the first time this year I've had more than 100 moths in the trap. So there were 107 moths of 40 species (32 macros & 8 micros).New for the year were A. geniculea, The Spectacle, The Herald, Rosy Rustic & Dark Sword-grass. Also 3 Dark Spinach, Scorched Carpet, Common White Wave & 21 Lesser Broad-Bordered Underwings.

The Herald

Dark Sword-grass

Another warm night produced 58 moths of 32 species. However there was nothing new for the year. There newly emerged specimens of Angle Shades, Setaceous Hebrew Character and Flame Shoulder, & a large Caddis Fly, which I'm told goes by the name of Speckled Peter.

Flame Shoulder

 Speckled Peter

A warm night with a minimum of 17c meant the best catch of the year in numbers with 94 moths of 40 species. However, the only new species for the year were the Horse-Chestnut Leaf-Miner and Bohemannia quadrimaculella, which was a new species for the garden. Thanks to John Lamgmaid for identifying this very small micro for me. 

Bohemannia quadrimaculella

A low of 16.5c overnight meant another quite good catch of 59 moths of 36 species. New for the year were: Bird Cherry Ermine and Straw Dot. It was nice to see another Dark Spinach.

 Dark Spinach

Numbers have picked up over the last couple of days due to warmer dry weather. A low of 15c last night produced 63 moths of 29 species this morning. Maple Pug was my 2nd ever in the garden and also new for the year were the Pyralid Hypsopygia glaucinalis amd Cypress Pug. The 3rd garden record of Cream-bordered Green-pea followed the 2nd one in June with this one posing for its photograph. Yesterday's tortrix has been confirmed as Epiblema roborana which was also new for the garden. The list now stands at 480.

Epiblema roborana

 Cream-bordered Green-Pea

The best night in terms of numbers this year with 70 moths of 36 species. New for the year were Orange Swift, Dark Spinach and Cydia splendana. I also had a tortrix which may be new for the garden list but is awaiting confirmation.

Orange Swift

40 moths of 19 species this morning. New for the year were: Dichrorampha acuminatana & The Mouse Moth. The total species for the year has just passed 200 but last year's 283 still seems a long way off.

Dichrorampha acuminatana

37 moths of 24 species this morning-nothing new for the year. I spent most of the day looking for birds & insects at Dungeness. After lunch we parked near the Old Lighthouse and walked towards the "trapping area". However we had only taken a few paces and I noticed a small moth that flew a few feet and settled near the ground. A closer examination showed it to be a species that I've wanted to see for ages-the small pyralid that looks like an ear of grain: Cynaeda dentalis. Picture below:

Cynaeda dentalis

60 moths of 32 species this morning, which was the best night so far of a poor year. New for the year were: Pyrausta aurata and Copper Underwing. I also had the 2nd Waved Black of the year. There were however no Large Yellow Underwings, which have been at very low levels so far. There were also 2 newly emerged Brimstones.

Brimstone Moth

35 moths of 25 species this morning. New for the year were: Bryotropha domestica, Catoptria falsella, Tawny Speckled Pug, Square-spot Rustic & Flounced Rustic. I also managed to photograph Bryotropha affinis better than I've done before.

 Bryotropha affinis

Yesterday morning I had 30 moths of 16 species-nothing new for the year. This morning there were 31 moths of 22 species. These included a new micro for the garden list: 801a Gelechia senticetella. Also new for the year were 2 other micros Epinotia ramella & Acrobasis advenella. I also had 1 of the very few Large Yellow Underwings that I've been getting, the first one since 23 July and the 2nd Straw Underwing of the year.

Straw Underwing

 Gelechia senticetella

  

Just 19 moths of 10 species, including 5 Riband Waves and 5 Least Carpets this morning. However, there were 2 species new for the year: Straw Underwing & Yellow-barred Brindle.

Yellow-barred Brindle

It was raining heavily first thing this morning so my expectations were not high. There were only 20 moths of 15 species. However, I spent some time puzzling over 1 moth which I suddenly realised was a Large Tabby, my 4th garden record and the 1st for 6 years.

 Large Tabby

  

35 moths of 26 species this morning. New for the year was Ruby Tiger.

Another rather poor night for the time of year with 29 moths of 15 species. The 1st August last year produced 114 moths of 33 species. That total included 20 Turnip Moths-there were none this morning. However Cydia splendana was new for this year.

Well we've reached the end of July with another poor night. Just 24 moths (6 Least Carpets) of 13 species. Small Fan-footed Wave was new for the year. So by the end of July I've reached 184 species in the garden compared to 225 this time last year. The micros are dowm from 79 to 69, but the macros are down more from 146 to 115.