Before I'd entered the reserve I was already pleased - a Sedge Warbler was manically singing on Sunday night and was still present. Whilst a common species, it was a first for me at this site and one that I had expected (though I was perplexed to find no previous records of it here over the last few years).
The first trap I checked had 2 Chocolate-tips sitting on the outside amongst others - I knew it was going to be a good overall catch. I gathered the 3 traps by the car and started the process of checking egg boxes and counting moths with pots at the ready for any goodies.
The total catch was a splendid 311 of 76 sp., with a gelechiid still to confirm (which could be the best moth of the night for me) plus a Gold Swift lekking at dusk. Aside from the obvious personal highlight below, 26 May Highflyers in one session is the highest ever count in VC55.
County Tick
0310 Callisto denticulella 1
Yearticks
0266 Bucculatrix nigricomella 2
0305 Parornix scoticella 1
0333 Phyllonorycter salictella viminiella 2
0696 Agonopterix propinquella 1
0883 Mompha raschkiella 1
0947 Aethes smeathmanniana 1
0993 Cyclamen Tortrix (Clepsis spectrana) 1
1501 Platyptilia gonodactyla 1
1682 Blood-vein (Timandra comae) 1
1759 Small Phoenix (Ecliptopera silaceata) 8
1764 Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata) 1
1808 Sandy Carpet (Perizoma flavofasciata) 2
1830 Wormwood Pug (Eupithecia absinthiata) 1
1874 Dingy Shell (Euchoeca nebulata) 5
1955 Common White Wave (Cabera pusaria) 1
1994 Buff-tip (Phalera bucephala) 1
2145 Nutmeg (Discestra trifolii) 1
2278 Poplar Grey (Acronicta megacephala) 1
2289 Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis) 2
2326 Clouded-bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata) 1
2387 Mottled Rustic (Caradrina morpheus) 1
2492 Small Fan-foot (Herminia grisealis) 1
Highest Counts (>5)
1776 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria) 35
1778 May Highflyer (Hydriomena impluviata) 26
1076 Celypha lacunana 23
1834 Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata) 17
1819 Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata) 12
0986 Syndemis musculana 10
1906 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) 10
1887 Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata) 9
1174 Epiblema cynosbatella 8
1981 Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi) 8
2102 Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) 8
2123 Small Square-spot (Diarsia rubi) 8
2028 Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda) 6
2060 White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda) 6
2063 Muslin Moth (Diaphora mendica) 6
Other Highlights
0293 Caloptilia syringella 4
0357 Phyllonorycter stettinensis 2
1979 Lime Hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae) 2
2019 Chocolate-tip (Clostera curtula) 5
Dingy Shell
Knot Grass
Poplar Grey
Agonopterix propinquella
Cyclamen Tortrix
Ancylis badiana
The garden traps were not quite so busy last night, unsurprising with the slightly cooler temps and light breeze. Still not a bad night though, with the total catch being 73 of 30sp. (125W MV 36 of 21, 80W actinic 37 of 20). The actinic held its own again.
0266 Bucculatrix nigricomella 1 [first for year in garden]
0294 Aspilapteryx tringipennella 1 [first for year]
0332 Phyllonorycter corylifoliella 1
0409a Argyresthia trifasciata 3
0544 Coleophora albicosta 2
0697 Agonopterix arenella 1
0892 Mompha subbistrigella 1
0998 Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana) 2
1136 Epinotia immundana 1 [first for year]
1176 Epiblema trimaculana 1 [first for year]
1376 Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata) 1
1724 Red Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe spadicearia) 2
1727 Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) 2 [first for year]
1764 Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata) 1 [first for year in garden]
1776 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria) 7
1778 May Highflyer (Hydriomena impluviata) 1
1817 Foxglove Pug (Eupithecia pulchellata) 1
1819 Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata) 10
1825 Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata) 1
1834 Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata) 15
1835 White-spotted Pug (Eupithecia tripunctaria) 2
1906 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) 2
1920 Scalloped Hazel (Odontopera bidentata) 2
1958 Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata) 2
2089 Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis) 4
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta) 2
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 1
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 1
2302 Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea) 1 [first for year]
2450 Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita) 1
I'm leaving the traps off tonight - the conditions have turned and it has been run over a fair few consecutive nights so time for a rest! When I do re-start, I'm going to back off the trap reports to just the highlights rather than endless lists of anywhere between 30 - 100 species.
We had our first juv Robin in the garden this morning, obviously picking up habits from the parents by loitering around the trap position. Also Woodpigeons actively rebuilding their nest for another brood on the embankment, Common Whitehroat singing away up there (though the Lesser seems to have departed), and Blackbirds still carrying food all over the place.
One unusual thing yesterday evening was a Blue Tit dropping purposefully into the aperture at the top of the kids basketball net stand. This is only c2" diameter and only drops to c6" depth before there is a threaded 'stop' going through the post. I can't believe the tits would use this for nesting, and it seems an unlikely place to forage for insects, but what else could it have been doing? I haven't noticed them going in before or again today.
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