Perfection

After 4 days of almost constant rainy, windy, crappy weather the 5th gave us all a break. And I'm sure I wasn't alone when I saw the weather improve, every mother in the country must've reached instinctively for their traps. The temperatures hovered around the early 20s throughout the day and remained above 15 during the night which obviously lead to a big haul. A good number of new for years fell tonight, including Swallow-tail, Plain Golden Y, Clay and Bramble Shoot Moth, and even better than all these was spotted on the sheet at around 2330.

Common Emerald

The interesting shape of a geometrid could be seen from the opposite side of the sheet as I approached the trap, and it got my attention straight away. A quick peep over the top proved that I was right to be excited...my first Common Emerald. Grab a pot...open it with fumbling fingers...moth in pot...yes!

Total moths 204! Brilliant...but how long will it last?

Plain Golden Y

Short-cloaked Moth

Small Magpie

Clay

Swallow-tailed Moth

Bramble Shoot Moth

Is it really July?

Another fairly disappointing night with an indication of how few moths I could expect in the morning as only 10 moths were potted before I called it a night at 2330hrs. Normally I can manage about 30! I think the large gusty breaths of fresh air would have kept things clinging on for dear life, rather than paying me a visit. So I guess it's the best I could manage!

However, having said it was disappointing there are always highlights and this time the trap yielded my first two Clay for the year. The one on the left was a tatty little devil, so obviously they've been around for a while. The guy on the right looked pretty fresh and much more easy to id!

One of my favourite moths turned up last night too - Buff Arches. One moth that I never fail to find fascinating. It's colour and patterns are truly beautiful, and I cannot fathom how evolution gave it these amazing ornamentations!

Left is a moth that I think I must have overlooked last year due to it's tiny size, but I've caught 3 this year so far. It is a nicely marked little guy called Bryotropha domestica, but is little bigger than the nib of my pen!  This plume moth to the right is causing me a little confusion. There has been a couple of options put forward on back-garden-moths.co.uk. Either Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla or S. milleridactyla. I initially thought it was the regular Emmelina monodactyla, but it was much smaller and doesn't seem quite right. I'd appreciate anyone with experience of these species putting their ideas forward!

Catch report for Saturday 23rd July - 38 moths of 20 species (8 micros; 12 macros)

Agriphila straminella
Bryotropha domestica
Buff Arches
Clay x 2 (New for Year)
Common Rustic agg
Currant Pug
Dark Arches x 10
Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix
Dipleurina lacustrata
Stenoptilia sp. (potentially New for Me)
Eudonia mercurella x 3
Heart and Dart x 4
Marbled Beauty
Nutmeg
Riband Wave
Shuttle-shaped Dart x 4
Swammerdamia pyrella
Uncertain
White-shouldered House-Moth
Willow Beauty

Much more still tonight, so I'm going to try again and see what a difference it makes. However, have just noticed that one of the neighbours has lit a huge bonfire and my garden is downwind!