Things hot up

Amazing how responsive nature is, isn't it? The tiny winged creatures feel the sun on their backs/cases and out they come! I find it all fascinating and mind-boggling how the destiny of the species relies on such basic criteria as weather. It also makes me think about how much climate change is really affecting things, when you realise that man's influence on the natural order of things has only taken a really serious effect for the last couple of hundred years, as opposed to the whole of man's existance over the last 60,000+ years! I can't help but think that the recent weather phenomena that we've experienced has hit populations hard before (probably for millenia) and yet just because we're experiencing it alongside nature, we feel we need to change things.
Droughts, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes - they're all natural disaster events that have happened previously, yes they have a catastrophic aftermath, but it is, after all, nature. I learned of a scheme just today where the effects of a limestone river drying up during the dry season, through the very natural phenomenon of the water finding it's way through the cracks and fissures underground instead of running on the surface like a 'proper river', were being "remedied" by concreting the river bed. Tourism was the reason - it won't look good if the river isn't there! Can you imagine the effects of ensuring the river is flowing all year?

Anyway, I digress due to the lack of sleep from last night because I was SOOO excited by finally seeing moths aplenty! The final tally was 41, which when compared to Sunday's 7 was such a vast improvement I was positively skipping round the garden. It was however interesting to note that 27 of those 41 were micros. Maybe the smaller species tend to respond quicker to the warmer temperatures?

Bee Moth

Waved Umber

Clouded Silver

Common Pug

Light Brown Apple Moth

Esperia sulphurella

Ancylis badiana

Caloptilia syringella

Tinea trinotella

All this frenzied activity puts my moth yearlist up to a much more respectable 56!

Also had this gorgeous new-for-the-year Holly Blue on the Ripley Greenway, near the stream at 6:30pm, enjoying some clayey treats in the sunshine!

Broken dreams...

Disaster struck early on Saturday. My clumsy dad knocked the actinic tube off the table and it smashed on the conservatory floor! Oopsy! Of course I didn't see him till Saturday teatime so I didn't have time to replace it.
With the actinic out of action, Sunday saw me bring out the BLB. But as conditions were not ideal I didn't hold out much hope. It was cooler than of late, with a morning temperature of just 10 degrees. The quantity certainly reflected the weather (and the alternative bulb?) but I did manage a bit of quality.

This neatly marked Agriphila latistria is the first for the garden and is the fourth Agriphila on my garden list this year! This Dotted Clay is a new for the year and only the second garden record. It's markings had me foxed for a while, but after reviewing several websites I'm confident this is correct.

This new for the year Small Rivulet is a bit of a late-comer compared to last year. I had caught five already by the same date in 2010! But as I'm discovering, some species have turned up early this year compared to last, whereas some haven't appeared on the list yet that seemed common enough last year. That's what is making this year's recording so interesting!

Other interesting moths to turn up were this Double-striped Pug, which despite its size is a very pretty little moth. This Light Brown Apple Moth was huge, much bigger than those I caught last year. Well in excess of 10mm! Finally, the trap was graced with the cracking Emmelina monodactyla - a great name for a great moth. Me and Jordan always refer to this one as a girl, and we always call her Emmelina! She's been a regular in the garden for both years. Just look at those amazing wings!

Catch report for 7th August 2011 - 26 moths of 17 species (5 micros ; 12 macros)
Agriphila latristria (New for Me)
Agriphila straminella x 5
Campion
Currant Pug
Dark Arches x 2
Dipleurina lacustrata
Dotted Clay (New for Year)
Double-striped Pug
Emmelina monodactyla
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Light Brown Apple Moth
Marbled Beauty
Pale Mottled Willow
Riband Wave
Uncertain
Small Rivulet (New for Year)
Willow Beauty x 5