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.

 

Mottled Umber

 

Blastobasis vittata

 

Siberian Chiffchaff

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

 

Barred Sallow

 

Clancy's Rustic

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

 

Orange Sallow

 

Green-brindled Crescent

 

The Sallow

 

 

I spent the last 2 weeks of September visiting Calgary, Alberta-my forst trip abroad since the start of the pandemic. Here are a few pictures from Alberta-more will appear on my Flickr site.

 Sabine's Gull (Juv.)

 

Coyote

Elk

 

 

 

 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

 

Gypsy Moth

 

Sickle-bearing Bush-cricket

 

Southern Oak Bush-cricket

Southern Hawker (f)

 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 

Jersey Tiger

 

Recurvaria nanella

 

Great Green Bush-cricket