Geometridae

• 2 Pale Brindled Beauty Phigalia pilosaria D. & S.
• 2 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.

Noctuidae

• 1 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
• 1 Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.

Saturday 21 February 2009

Weather: Chilly, down to 2°C by the morning, thin, wispy cloud cover, still.

Again, we were out all day yesterday and were fairly late back but this time I did put the trap out, but when I did, it had already been dark for a couple of hours. I think this might have been partly responsible for the meagre catch as I suspect a great deal of activity around the trap takes place just after dusk.

Whilst driving home though, we saw lots of moths illuminated by the car’s headlights. Incidentally, we stopped at the Texaco filling station on the A272 and I was amazed by the number of moths flying around the lights there, I also discovered that a very effective way of arousing the suspicions of the cashier at one of these places is to try to get a closer look at the moths - they obviously don’t like people paying too much attention to the lighting systems (the bulbs look just like MV’s?). Annoyingly, I didn’t actually manage a closer look at any of the moths, suffice it to say there were a lot of big ones which I guess must have been Pale Brindled or possibly Oak Beauties.

Geometridae

• 1 Pale Brindled Beauty Phigalia pilosaria D. & S.
• 1 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.

Noctuidae

• 1 Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.

Friday 20 February 2009

Out all day and didn’t get back in time to get the trap out.

Thursday 19 February 2009

Weather: Mild - 6°C, foggy, frequent drizzle, still.

An unpleasantly damp night seemed to have an unsurprisingly negative effect. The catch was similar to last night’s but in smaller numbers.

Tortricidae

• 4 Winter Shade Tortricodes alternella Linn.

Geometridae

• 3 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
• 2 Pale Brindled Beauty Phigalia pilosaria D. & S.
• 1 Spring Usher Agriopis leucophaearia D. & S.
• 3 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.

Noctuidae

• 1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
• 1 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
• 4 Satellite Eupsilia transversa Hufn.
• 2 Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Weather: Very mild (9°C), mainly overcast, occasional light rain, still.

Last night at about 23:00 I counted six moths in and around the trap which, because I’ve been harbouring the faint hope that the mild spell we’re experiencing at the moment might produce at least one reasonable return, meant I was fairly optimistic about what might be in this morning’s catch. I think it’s just about right to say that I was more than a little surprised at what I found. Around the outside of the trap I counted half a dozen or so moths but inside there were what seemed like loads - 27 moths of 11 species, including 5 firsts for the year. I put it all down to the shiny new egg trays that I started using the other day, the repeated drenchings had finally taken their toll on the old ones.

Oecophoridae

• 2 Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.

Tortricidae

• 5 Winter Shade Tortricodes alternella Linn.

Geometridae

• 3 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
• 2 Pale Brindled Beauty Phigalia pilosaria D. & S.
• 1 Spring Usher Agriopis leucophaearia D. & S.
• 2 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.

Noctuidae

• 3 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
• 1 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
• 1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
• 5 Satellite Eupsilia transversa Hufn.
• 2 Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.

Tuesday 17 February 2009

Weather: Mild (6°C), overcast, still.

Although there wasn’t very much in and around the trap this morning, today does mark the start of this year’s Orthosia season with the arrival of the first Small Quaker. Last year the first Small Quaker turned up on 20 January and the first Orthosia of any sort was a Common Quaker on Christmas Day.

Tortricidae

• 2 Winter Shade Tortricodes alternella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Pale Brindled Beauty Phigalia pilosaria D. & S.

Noctuidae

• 1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.

Monday 16 February 2009

Weather: Comparatively mild at first, thin cloud cover with a few light showers early on, more or less still.

Another frost-free night, it’s a miracle! We only had two species arrive at the trap but they were both new for the year.

Tortricidae

• 4 Winter Shade Tortricodes alternella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.

Saturday 14 - Sunday 15 February 2009

A return to frosty nights with the temperature falling to about -4°C early on Saturday morning.

Friday 13 February 2009

Weather: Cold (1 - 3°C), overcast, snow, sleet and rain, light northerly wind.

When, yesterday afternoon, I was peering out of the window contemplating the prospect of a dry(ish), frost free night I was suddenly struck by what I normally do in such circumstances - eureka!. My expectation levels were set to minimum though (especially as it started snowing about ten minutes after switching the trap on), so the two moths that did show up counted as a very pleasant and gratifying surprise.

Geometridae

• 1 Pale Brindled Beauty Phigalia pilosaria D. & S.
• 1 Spring Usher Agriopis leucophaearia D. & S.

Sunday 01 - Thursday 12 February 2009

What an awful lot of entirely appropriate for the time of year weather we have been getting! It doesn’t seem quite right though, in spite of the fact that it has been very cold it has also been incredibly wet. As far as I am aware February is normal the driest month and without the slightest bit of corroboration, I’d suggest that there has been about six months’ worth of rain (and snow) in the past four weeks or so. I did see one moth a few evenings ago, frustratingly, it evaded capture, but my guess was that it was a Winter Shade.