A December Moth this morning brought the year total garden moth list to 366 for the year. This total is 45 down on last year's, mainly due to the poor spring and early summer. Two Glossy Ibis have been showing well occasionally at Dungeness, where on Thursday 6 Whooper Swans turned up on the ARC Pit.
December Moth
Glossy Ibis
Whooper Swans
Still getting few moths in the trap, with Mottled Umber and The Sprawler being new for the year, and a very small micro: Blastobasis vittata new for the garden. Also the Siberian Chiffchaff showed well at Swalecliffe yesterday morning.
The Sprawler.
Reaching the end of another month there's not much to report. Total moth species for the year in the garden is 359 which compares to 410 at the same time last year. Recent records include the first Merveille du Jour of the year, Barred Sallow and Clancy's Rustic.
Merveille du Jour
The moth trap has not been particularly exciting this month. It's seems to have been too cold or too wet a lot of the time. Best record has been Musotima nitidalis which was my second record (First was last year) plus a few of the regulars.
Musotima nitidalis
At the end of August the annual moth list stood at 323 species which was 53 short of the number at the same stage last year. However there have been a couple of garden firsts since my last post: Bordered Beauty and a couple of Gypsy Moths. A female Southern Hawker Dragonfly also turned up in the garden, and at Dungeness I saw my first Sickle-bearing Bush-cricket-a final instar (not quite an adult) and a Southern Oak Bush-cricket (Both courtesy of Dave Walker).
Bordered Beauty
Interesting moths in the trap recently were: Bulrush Wainscot, which was new for the garden, my 2nd record of Lesser Spotted Pinion and Cydia amplana, and more Jersey Tigers. Further afield some Grass Snakes were showing well at Dan's Dock at Oare Marshes where they were hunting Froglets, and the Silver-washed Fritillary at North Bishopden Wood was much the closest to the village I've seen one.
Bulrush Wainscot
Lesser Spotted Pinion
Grass Snake
Silver-washed Fritillary
By the end of July the garden moth list had reached 283 for the year which is 45 less than at the same stage last year. Recent more interesting species have been Garden Tiger, which is a garden first after 22 years of trapping. Also the first Jersey Tiger of the year and the micro Recurvaria nanella which was new species for the garden list. At Dungeness a Great Green Bush-cricket showed well-a species I can no longer hear!
Garden Tiger
Moth trap not as good as usual for July and bird sightings almost non-existent. However, I've continued to try out various lures for Clearwing Moths. Much to my amazement I've managed to record 5 different species in my garden: Currant, Orange-tailed, Yellow-legged, Red-tipped, and Red-belted. I also got a decent photograph of the Lunar Hornet Moth aat Dungeness last week. Six-belted Clearwing was also seen there but not photographed.
Currant Clearwing
We've reached the half-way point in the year and up to the 30th June the moth trap has recorded 180 species which compares to 228 at the same point last year. I have also been trying out some pheromone lures to try for some Clearwing Moth species. The only one seen so far in the garden is the Orange-tailed Clearwing. Elsewhere the Hornet Moth was seen at its usual site near Faversham. The Heath Fritillaries seem to be doing well in the Blean Woods. Also new for the garden this week was the Rosy Marbled.
Heath Fritillary
Rosy Marbled
Hornet Moth
Orange-tailed Clearwing
Had an interesting Butterfly Conservation walk last Saturday at Crundale where the main target species was the Black-veined Moth and about a dozen were seen. Other species were: Mother Shipton, Burnett Companion, Duke of Burgundy Butterflies, Green Hairstreaks and Dingy Skippers. Bee, Man and Pyramidical Orchids were also noted. The moth trap has got going with 2 new macro species for the garden: Cream Wave and Poplar Lutestring. The Campion and Barred Yellow were also good records for me.
Black-veined Moth
Moth trapping has improved with the warmer weather this week, but at the end of May I had only recorded 56 species this year compared to 126 at the same point last year, which shows the difference between a good and bad spring weather wise. This week I've recorded a new micro species: Elachita argentella. I also made a successful visit to the Bonsai Bank KWT Reserve for the Duke of Burgundy, Dingy Skipper and Green Hairstreak Butterflies, and the White-spotted Sable Moth. In the garden the Stag Beetles have appeared this week and a couple of Slow Worms have turned up for the 2nd year.
Elachita argentella
Since my last post the moth trap has picked up a bit with milder weather. Species new for the year include: Nut-tree Tussock, Yellow-barred Brindle, Small Waved Umber, Cinnabar, Muslin Moth, Streamer, Toadflax Brocade, Brimstone, Rustic Shoulder-Knot and Spruce Carpet. Best of all was a rather worn Gem which was only my 2nd ever record of this migrant species and my 1st for 20 years. Birds seen recently include good number of the Hobby, Yellow Wagtails and a Spoonbill at Dungeness.
The Gem
Spoonbill
Hobby
Yellow Wagtail
