15th and 16th April
At last, some warmer weather with southerly winds to bring moths to the SW. The result was some nice Spring moths, including migrants in significant numbers, and reflecting the changing Autumn colours which are quickly becoming fresher and brighter as the garden comes alive. At the same time, there is still a need for the moths to insulate themselves from the cool temperatures.
The best of the bunch …
None of these moths is rare, but all nice to see. One of the joys of mothing is its seasonal nature. No matter how often you’ve caught them before, they always come as a nice surprise as you see them again for the first time in the year. I always find myself getting out the field-guide to remind me, and asking for expert advice on Twitter – which is, fortunately, a generous and supportive place for moth-help. These two are an example; very similar moths, both of which can be very variable and separated only by some subtle differences to the angles on the cross-lines:
Also not rare, but perhaps the best for me, was this Shoulder Stripe – amazingly, a lifer.
Not having captured it before is more to do with my lack of activity with the trap in previous Springs than any distribution of the moth – my determination to do more March and April mothing paying off with several new species this year already, including this one.
Whilst all the moths above are resident to this part of the world, the southerly winds – after persistent easterlies – also brought some migrants (though it’s possible that there is some local colonisation going on too). In particular, I’ve done really well for Dark Sword-grass, with five on the 15th and another 2 this morning …
And another potential migrant was this little Udea ferrugalis (Rusty-dot Pearl) in this morning’s trap:
It’s such an exciting time of year as the season gets going properly … as always with mothing, anything can turn up in even the most unlikely settings. And even if identification isn’t a challenge, taking photos of a 7mm creature that doesn’t always what to pose certainly keeps you busy! …
wordofmoth 