Just 13 moths of 6 species yesterday and, after a milder night, 28 of 9 species this morning including a Blair's Shoulder-knot which was new for the year.

Blair's Shoulder-knot

A much colder night (9.5c) meant only 19 moths of 9 species this morning. Just 2 LBAMs after the 27 yesterday. New for the year was an autumnal regular: The Mallow.

The Mallow

A mild night (13.5c) with some rain was good for moths with 49 of 13 species this morning. Apart from 27 Light Brown Apple Moths and 10 LYUs, there was my 4th ever record of Pine Carpet and my 1st of Pale Pinion. This was the 4th new macro of the year.  

Pale Pinion

Pine Carpet

32 moths of 9 species this morning after a mild night. New for the year was Eudonia angustea. Yesterday afternoon made my 5th trip to Oare in an  attempt to photograph the Spotted Crake. Very unusually I located it almost at once and it showed well for at least 30 minutes from about 4pm. However, getting a close shot free of the vegetation was almost impossible.

Spotted Crake

 Eudonia angustea

Yesterday morning after a very mild night (15c) there wee 50 moths of 12 species in the trap. However 26 were Light Brown Apple Moths, my highest ever count, and 12 were Lesser Yellow Underwings. This morning after a cooler night (9c) there were just 11 moths of 6 species (3 LBAMs and 1 Lesser YU). Nothing new for the year. Rosy Rustic, Feathered Ranunculus and 2 Lunar Underwings were the most interesting. Where are all the Sallows?

Rosy Rustic

A much milder night didn't produce much in the trap this morning. There were just 10 moths of 6 species with the the 2nd Feathered Ranunculus of the autumn being the most interesting.

 Feathered Ranunculus

 

With nothing exiting in the moth trap, I spent the morning making my 4th attempt to see the Spotted Crake at Oare Marshes. After I long wait I was distracted and photographed a Lesser Whitethroat not far from the East Hide. It was then that the Crake appeared and I was able to get reasionable but brief views but no pictures that were useable. When it came out into open it decided to run across the open area and disappear further up the ditch.

Lesser Whitethroat

Not much to report form the last few days. Moth numbers have declined sharply with only 3 moths yesterday: 2 Angle Shades and a Lesser Yellow Underwing. New for the year on Sunday was The Nettle Tap and this morning the 17 moths were represented by 10 Lesser YUs, 4 LYUs, 1 LBAM, 1 Flounced Rustic and the 1st Lunar Underwing of the year.

Lunar Underwing

A couple more wet nights have produced 31 moths of 13 species yesterday and this morning 41 moths of 14 species. New for the year this morning was the first Feathered Ranunculus of the Autumn. Yesterday I caught up with the Semi-palmated Sandpiper at Dungeness. Here are 2 pictures from yesterday at Dunge.

Egyptian Goose

Small Tortoiseshell

A milder night but it was still raining steadily when I checked the trap this morning. However on the outside of the trap sitting on the plastic funnel was The Vestal, a new species for my garden. In all there were 22 moths of 15 species. None were new for the year but a Small Dusty Wave was the 2nd of the Autumn.

The Vestal

The Vestal

Cooler and wetter weather the last few days have meant that moth numbers have plummeted from the 103 moths of 34 species last friday morning to 13 moths of just 7 species yesterday. This morning there 26 of 10 species. The only new one for the year in this period was a Rosy Rustic. However, I did find a Rhombic Leatherbug in the house. Only the 2nd one I've ever seen.

Rhombic Leatherbug

 

A much cooler night (9.5c) than yesterday with rain meant only 43 moths of 15 species this morning. However, I was pleased with my 2nd ever record of Agonopterix nervosa.

Agonopterix nervosa

In terms of numbers last night was one of the best of the year with 103 moths of 34 species. However, there was nothing new for the year. A second Centre-barred Sallow was of the "normal" type, unlike the previous aberrant example. Went to Dunge today where Little Stint, Black Tern, Arctic Skua and Whinchat were all year ticks for me. In addition I also photographed a Great Crested Newt crossing the path to the Hanson Hide, inside which we found a Grey Bush-cricket, a species we'd both been looking for over the last couple of years. There was also a rather anaemic loooking Long-winged Conehead on the Willow Trail.

Centre-barred Sallow

Grey Bush-cricket

 Great Crested Newt

 Whinchat

80 moths of 29 species this morning. New for the year were Small Dusty Wave, Svensson's Copper Underwing and Lesser Treble-bar.

 Svennson's Copper Underwing

 Lesser Treble-bar

Yesterday there were 66 moths of 20 species. New for the year was Garden Rose Tortrix and new for the garden list was the Common Clothes Moth (Tineola bisselliella)-one I'd prefer not to get too often. This morning there were 68 moths of 26 species with Feathered Gothic new for the year.

 Garden Rose Tortrix

Feathered Gothic

Yesterday there were 40 moths of 17 species after a cooler night (9c) with the 2nd  Old Lady of the week being the most interesting record. This morning after a marginally warmer night (10c) there were 61 moths of 20 species, including the 1st Centre-barred Sallow of the year. We have reached the end of another month and the macros are still well down on the last 2 years with only 135 species, which compares with 142 at the same stage last year and 164 for 2011. The micros are about the same with 91 species so far this year, compared to 93 (2012) and 89 (2011) at the same point in the last 2 years.

Centre-barred Sallow