Moths: September
Saturday 27th The wind dropped but a clearing sky allowed the temperature down to 4.5°C. The catch was much improved to 180 moths of 19 species, 76 of these were Lunar Underwings. Two Deep-brown Darts were new for the year. Delicates were up to 12 and a Beautiful Hook-tip was a surprise. There were two Rush Veneers and four Rusty-dot…
Moths: August
Thursday 28th The best overnight conditions for a while now with light rain, complete cloud cover and a slightly breezy South-westerly pushed numbers to 463 moths of 72 species. A Shining Marbled was the clear highlight, the 3rd record for the Obs. A good showing all-around by migrants with two Pearly Underwings, three Scarce Bordered Straws and a Dark Sword-grass, plus…
Moths: July
Wednesday 30th There were 229 moths of 74 species in the trap. An Oak Processionary was the best of the bunch and the only addition for the year. Two Small Wainscots, one of each colour form, added some variety and a Maple Prominent was a good find for the main trap being scarcely seen away from the Jubilee Field. Tuesday…
Moths: June
Monday 30th The warm nights continue with a minimum of 16°C resulting in another busy trap. Four hundred and ninety four moths included the following firsts for the year; Dunbar, Scalloped Oak, Orange Footman, three Dusky Sallows, Lunar-spotted Pinion, Maple Prominent plus the very local Gymnancycla cannella (2). Chrysoteucha culmella was down to 13. The only migrants were a Rush Veneer,…
Moths: May
Saturday 31st A nice, warm, day welcomed people to the first moth evening and they were treated to an excellent variety of moths. The two traps at the Observatory caught 302 moths between them of 66 species. Highlights included ten Small Elephant Hawk-moths, a Cream-spot Tiger and four Diamond-Backs. Clouded Bordered Brindle was new for the year as was Pinion-streaked Snout and…
Moths: April
Wednesday 30th Similar conditions again and the catch dropped slightly to 39 moths of 16 species. A male Gem was our earliest record by a week of this migrant species. This added weight to my suspicion that the Turnips we are getting might also be migrants- there were five last night. Also new for the year were Large Yellow Underwing, Dark Spectacle,…
Moths: March
Monday 31st More of the same but the wind dropped reducing the risk from the flood alert. The temperature was down to 3.3°C and there was an early frost. An increase of Hebrew Characters to 17 helped the total go up to 46 moths of 11 species. The highlight was a pristine female Emperor Moth. As these use pheromones to…
Moths: February
Saturday 22nd Three actinics in The Elms caught only two moths – a Pale Brindled Beauty and a Tortricoides alternella. Sunday 2nd It has just not been suitable for the moth trap to be used until last night when the rain stayed away and the wind dropped. The trap on Sandown Road caught four moths – a Common Quaker and…
Moths: January
Friday 10th Despite the conditions not often being favourable last year we still added three new species of macro and several micros to the list. We are grateful to visitors who take the time to share their records with us. This included this first from Lynnette Nicholson and Mark Golley which was gen. det’d by N. Jones. Thursday 2nd It…
Moths: December
Tuesday 17th The forecast overnight was way off and a clear sky led to the temperature dropping below 2°C and a frost forming. There were no moths in the trap. Monday 16th The promise of a mild, settled, night tempted the trap out. It was worth it despite the fact there were only two moths. One was the first December…