I wasn't expecting too much from the garden traps last night as it has not been that mild and was still very breezy - and both traps looked a bit dead by the time I went to bed. However, going through them this morning, actinic first, on the second egg tray I found this:
Superb - a migrant
Scarce Bordered Straw, the second wild one for the garden (I reared one from a larva found on cut flowers a few years ago).
The rest of the trap wasn't so exciting, and the MV was rubbish. In fact, the MV was so rubbish I've chucked the bulb and fitted a new one to see if that helps next time out.
05/09/2009 - Total catch 99 of 21sp.
(125W MV 23 of 9sp., 80W actinic 76 of 17 sp.)
First for year in garden:
Scarce Bordered Straw (Helicoverpa armigera) 1
Highest counts:
Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) 28
Lesser Yellow Underwing (Noctua comes) 24
Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana) 12
Other highlights:
Vine's Rustic (Hoplodrina ambigua) 1
Gold Spot (Plusia festucae) 3
Silver Y (Autographa gamma) 6
Vine's Rustic
A bit later in the morning, I nipped out for a walk down the lane to collect some fresh nettle for these:
Small Tortoiseshell from yesterday's walk.
I've not reared any butterfly larvae before so hopefully approaching it the same way as I do for moths will work. All being well they should pupate and emerge before the end of the autumn (they overwinter as adults from the second brood).
Whilst browsing the undergrowth, I found this larva:
Dot Moth - another one to try and rear through
Bird-wise, a really smart juv
Lesser Whitethroat flitting about in a hawthorn hedge was the clear winner on the interest stakes down the lane. A field that was being ploughed had already attracted a gathering of c40
Lesser Black-backed Gulls and assorted corvids, whilst a stubble field held c50
Woodpigeons but nothing else. Still plenty of
Swallows and
House Martins in evidence.
Just as I left the lane and came back into the estate, I noticed a very large moth roosting on the garden wall of the first house in. Close inspection confirmed the expected
Red Underwing.
Superb - a migrant Scarce Bordered Straw, the second wild one for the garden (I reared one from a larva found on cut flowers a few years ago).
The rest of the trap wasn't so exciting, and the MV was rubbish. In fact, the MV was so rubbish I've chucked the bulb and fitted a new one to see if that helps next time out.
05/09/2009 - Total catch 99 of 21sp.
(125W MV 23 of 9sp., 80W actinic 76 of 17 sp.)
First for year in garden:
Scarce Bordered Straw (Helicoverpa armigera) 1
Highest counts:
Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) 28
Lesser Yellow Underwing (Noctua comes) 24
Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana) 12
Other highlights:
Vine's Rustic (Hoplodrina ambigua) 1
Gold Spot (Plusia festucae) 3
Silver Y (Autographa gamma) 6
Vine's Rustic
A bit later in the morning, I nipped out for a walk down the lane to collect some fresh nettle for these:
Small Tortoiseshell from yesterday's walk.
I've not reared any butterfly larvae before so hopefully approaching it the same way as I do for moths will work. All being well they should pupate and emerge before the end of the autumn (they overwinter as adults from the second brood).
Whilst browsing the undergrowth, I found this larva:
Dot Moth - another one to try and rear through
Bird-wise, a really smart juv Lesser Whitethroat flitting about in a hawthorn hedge was the clear winner on the interest stakes down the lane. A field that was being ploughed had already attracted a gathering of c40 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and assorted corvids, whilst a stubble field held c50 Woodpigeons but nothing else. Still plenty of Swallows and House Martins in evidence.
Just as I left the lane and came back into the estate, I noticed a very large moth roosting on the garden wall of the first house in. Close inspection confirmed the expected Red Underwing.
5 comments:
Cracking pics, Mark.
I find butterfly cats just as easy as moths to rear. Good luck with em.
Good job on the Scarce Bordered Straw, yours looks totally different from one that I trapped, apparently a very variable species, and quite a rarity around these parts.
Thanks Dean - they are feeding well at the moment, I think I just need to sort out a more suitable box for them before they form their chrysalis.
Yes Ben - quite variable, I have seen darker ones but most I've seen are this lighter form. Still a good catch here in VC55, though the rarity value decreased in 2006 when we had a major influx.
Interesting that your MV catch was poor, Mark - I put my traps out last night (7th) for the first time in about 2 weeks. They were both pretty crap (i.e. just loads of LYUs, Square-spot Rustics etc), but the MV was particularly poor compared to the actinic - about a quarter of the number of moths. Perhaps my bulb is getting old as well - I can't remember the last time I changed it!
The MV has picked up markedly the last two nights Andy since I changed the bulb. Definitely feel it was a contributing factor. Ironically I think I last changed it around autumn 2006 during the Scarce Bordered Straw influx.
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