Catch up

Haven't been getting out too much, and when I have I've not had a chance to post anything so here's brief catch up ....

First, a couple of nice beetles, butterflies and a moth from Ketton Quarry on 23/05/2015.

Cryptocephalus bipunctatus - only the 4th VC55 record, first since 1987

Agrilus angustulus (per Graham Finch) - 11 previous records

Dingy Skipper - was lucky to find a pair in cop

Grizzled Skipper

Burnet Companion

The new car had it's debut mothing night out on Friday 05/06/2015 to a group session at Charnwood Lodge; nothing too arduous on the chassis, just some woodland rides. I was pleased to fit 6x traps, 2x gennies and 7x cable reels easily into the boot space with room to spare.

The mothing itself was a little poor, as has been the whole spring! My traps managed a total of 46sp.

Code	Taxon	Vernacular	Total
131	Incurvaria oehlmanniella		2
140	Nematopogon swammerdamella		2
227	Monopis laevigella	Skin Moth	1
485	Schreckensteinia festaliella		2
602	Elachista apicipunctella		1
636	Denisia similella		1
649	Esperia sulphurella		1
770	Carpatolechia proximella		2
797	Neofaculta ericetella		1
1174	Epiblema cynosbatella		1
1497	Amblyptilia acanthadactyla		1
1645	Falcaria lacertinaria	Scalloped Hook-tip	1
1680	Cyclophora punctaria	Maiden's Blush	1
1722	Xanthorhoe designata	Flame Carpet	1
1759	Ecliptopera silaceata	Small Phoenix	1
1764	Chloroclysta truncata	Common Marbled Carpet	4
1768	Thera obeliscata	Grey Pine Carpet	2
1776	Colostygia pectinataria	Green Carpet	10
1834	Eupithecia vulgata	Common Pug	2
1844	Eupithecia indigata	Ochreous Pug	1
1857	Eupithecia tantillaria	Dwarf Pug	1
1902	Petrophora chlorosata	Brown Silver-line	63
1906	Opisthograptis luteolata	Brimstone Moth	2
1920	Odontopera bidentata	Scalloped Hazel	4
1931	Biston betularia	Peppered Moth	2
1947	Ectropis bistortata	Engrailed	1
1951	Aethalura punctulata	Grey Birch	12
1955	Cabera pusaria	Common White Wave	2
1957	Lomographa bimaculata	White-pinion Spotted	3
1981	Laothoe populi	Poplar Hawk-moth	1
2006	Pheosia gnoma	Lesser Swallow Prominent	2
2008	Ptilodon capucina	Coxcomb Prominent	2
2014	Drymonia dodonaea	Marbled Brown	14
2028	Calliteara pudibunda	Pale Tussock	5
2043	Eilema sororcula	Orange Footman	16
2060	Spilosoma lubricipeda	White Ermine	1
2061	Spilosoma luteum	Buff Ermine	1
2063	Diaphora mendica	Muslin Moth	3
2102	Ochropleura plecta	Flame Shoulder	4
2123	Diarsia rubi	Small Square-spot	7
2160	Lacanobia oleracea	Bright-line Brown-eye	1
2163	Melanchra pisi	Broom Moth	6
2190	Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character	1
2289	Acronicta rumicis	Knot Grass	1
2302	Rusina ferruginea	Brown Rustic	5
2326	Apamea crenata	Clouded-bordered Brindle	1
		Total species	46
		Total individuals	199

Grey Birch

Scalloped Hook-tip

Whilst I'm on here, may as well post a couple of bird photos from Greece back in April.

Crested Lark

Stonechat

Stonechat fledglings

LRP

Busy Weekend

After a fairly quiet week off, with largely shite weather, this weekend has been busy and I've made the most of the improved conditions. Most of yesterday was taken up by a football tournament that Josh was playing in. We left home just before 9am and got back home at around 4pm. Whilst Josh was at the football, Alex was doing his usual karate lesson followed by a grading in the afternoon (now orange belt). We got them both showered and sorted for going out camping overnight with the Scouts. By the time we'd dropped them off and got back home, it was a really nice mild and still early evening. I watched the second half of the Netherlands v Denmark game and then headed out to have a walk along one of the local disused railway lines with net and pots at the ready. Time flew by whlist I swished at anything flying and vegetation, and by the time I got home it was just in time for the second half of the Germany v Portugal game.

I put the garden moth trap out though I didn't expect much as the good late afternoon/early evening conditions lead to clear skies and dropping temps. The forecast for today was also looking good so I opted to get up very early, empty the trap (predictably poor, just 10 of 9sp.) and head over to Ketton Quarry for a few hours before having to head home and pick up the boys from the camp at lunch time.

Suffice to say I've ended up with lots of stuff in pots, lots of photos and plenty of stuff to enter in MapMate. I'm not going to pile it all in one post so I'll have to drip feed over the week. For now here's a few varied shots, and I'm starting with a moth tick from Ketton Quarry ...

Adela croesella - smart!

Here's shot of the railway line in Whetstone - great habitat for various inverts ...

A few damselflies noted on both outings ....

Common Blue Damselfly - immature

Common Blue Damselfly - mature male

Large Red Damselfly

Very surprised to see a Grizzled Skipper still on the wing at Ketton, though it was a bit knackered. I also found a small Adder which was very dull with cloudy eyes ready to slough off the skin.

Grizzled Skipper

Adder

Ketton Quarry - 08/05/2008

An early morning appointment in Peterborough gave an opportunity for another visit to Ketton Quarry. By the time I got there it was already shaping up to be a very warm day and there was continuous bright sunshine. As a direct consequence there was far more butterfly activity than I've seen anywhere ekse this year. Common species on the wing were: Green-veined White, Orange-tip, Speckled Wood, Peacock, Brimstone and Holly Blue. I also managed 2 of my 3 butterfly targets -


A good 25+ Green Hairstreaks noted, but bloody hard to get a shot of as they were so active.


Also c15 Grizzled Skippers, again very lively and mobile. Bastards! No Dingy Skippers though.


'Another micro-second and I'm off'


A very conservative 200+ Common Heaths - the name really fits at this site.

Otherwise moths were few and far between, with only a few Incurvaria masculella and Pyrausta purpuralis noted.