From the garden trap

Not such a nice day weather-wise, a little cool and breezy with few sunny spells. Just aswell really as I spent most of the morning working on a Diploma project and this afternoon trawling around car dealerships looking for something to replace our knackered and expensive-to-run Galaxy.

I did get my microscope out and checked out the Dahlica females from yesterday, plus another that emerged today. There are four things that can be checked: the pupal exuviae headplate, the number of tarsal segments on the legs, the number of antennal segments, and the structure of the anal spines. Checking them is one thing, getting an image with my microscope is extremely hit and miss and I decided not to bother. You'll have to take my word for it that I had 3 x Dahlica triquetrella (including the female pictured yesterday) and 1 x Dahlica lichenella. Here's a couple of older shots showing what the headplates look like:

triquetrella left, lichenella right

The garden trap was similar in numbers to the previous night, though nothing new for the year. Total catch was 48 of 10sp. (125W MV 24 of 8, 80W actinic 24 of 7).

0663 Diurnea fagella 1
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 1
1524 Emmelina monodactyla 1
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 1
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 6
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 1
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 9
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 7
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 19
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 2

Snakes n stuff

Another superbly warm sunny day. After emptying the moth traps and giving Nichola a lift into work, I headed out to Ketton Quarry with the boys to have our first go this year at searching for reptiles.

By the time we got there it was already very warm, and there were no snakes basking in any obvious spots. Someone was already there looking, and had been for a while, but he'd seen only 1 female Adder which was now still just about viewable but only as a tail-tip. There was a small male Grass Snake out in full view allowing very close views - however it was dead! We moved down to the other main area and soon found a very lively and active Grass Snake. We got good but brief views which kept the boys happy, but no chance of photography. We also found a handful of Common Lizards but again they were very lively and would not sit still for a few seconds. We'll try again in a week or so - either we were too early in the season or the very cold winter has demolished the reptile population in the area.

Also on site I picked up good numbers of active butterflies, including Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, Brimstones and a Comma. Also plenty of bees of one sort or another, and a fair few of these bizarre Bee-flies (which I think are Bombylius major):

Bee-fly

Whilst there, at least two Blackcaps were in full song plus a couple of Chiffchaffs. Before leaving, I collected a few Teasel seed heads to check for and rear the tortrix Endothenia gentianaeana. I later checked one and found a larva so I expect all of the collected heads will be populated.

Endothenia gentianaeana

On the way home, I had a very quick look over Eyebrook Reservoir. Nothing too exciting - no terns or waders - though this flew over the road just as I was moving on. I managed to jump out of the car and point the camera for a crap record shot.

Osprey

Shame is that with the plethora of translocated birds and their offspring, I just can't get excited by Ospreys in our county.

Back home mid-afternoon, just in time to post a bet on my Blue Square account for the Grand National and make a modest £25 profit after backing the winner.

Later on, I checked the Psychidae from Monday that I brought back to rear/check and I found that 3 of the Dahlica spp. had emerged and the apterous (no wings) parthenogenetic (no males) females were actively egg-laying into the vacated cases. I will hold on to the cases for a couple of weeks before taking them back to the wall they came from. I need to get the spent females and the head-plate from the pupal exuviae under the microscope to confirm exactly which species they are (hopefully I've got both).

A short clip of the unfertilised female pumping the vacated case full of fertile eggs .....

Meanwhile, from the garden trap last night, 32 of 10sp. (125W MV 14 of 7, 80W actinic 18 of 5):

0667 Semioscopis steinkellneriana 1
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 1
0697 Agonopterix arenella 1 [first for year]
1524 Emmelina monodactyla 3
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 1
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 1
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 1
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 3
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 19
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1

Agonopterix arenella

Life in the garden 09/04/2010

Our rear garden lawn is gradually sinking and the bottom half of the garden is a clay bog. On the upside, the lawn is generally unmowable until after a good couple of weeks or so of dry warm weather ..... The borders are not too bad, though neither of us bothers too much about weeding other than in occasional bursts of enthusiastic culling. As for the paved bits, I reckon its only the weeds and moss that stops the slabs from wobbling. The front 'garden' is a lot smaller than it used to be - not physically as such, but there used to be a lawn there aswell before we had an extension to the house and driveway. Now there is just a planted area around our cherry tree. The gardens are not exactly wild and unkempt, but they are not formal and neat either - somewhere in between which does mean that there are opportunities for finding all sorts of unexpected things of you have a good look. But today when I got home from work early, I wasn't searching the undergrowth - just enjoying the sunshine and have a general nose around.

One thing I noticed was some small yellow flowers growing around slabs that I couldn't remember seeing there before. When it comes to plants and flowers I am pretty much incompetent - I just can't retain an image of the structure/colour and associate it with a name in the same way that I can with relative ease for birds, moths etc. Anyway, I noticed the flowers but didn't know what they were. This prompted me to dig out the only wild flower books I have to again trawl through blindly. Whilst I had the book in hand, I recalled various people mentioning seeing Lesser Celandine recently so I looked it up. Bugger me - it was the small yellow flower I was intending to try and identify! Or at least I think so ....

Of the flowers that we have actually planted, pleasing to see that the Snake's Head Fritillaries (sourced from commercial stock) continue to thrive:

Also about were my first Peacocks of the year, with several flying around in bursts in between soaking up the sun, and also my first wasps. Also lots of big fat White-tailed and Red-tailed Bumblebees evident, plus loads of 7-Spot Ladybirds and a couple of 2-Spots.

A weakly-marked 7-Spot

The garden moth traps last night produced a total of 44 of 11sp. (125W MV 16 of 7, 80W actinic 28 of 9).

0672 Parsnip Moth (Depressaria heraclei) 1 [first for year]
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 1
1524 Emmelina monodactyla 1
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 1
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 1
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 1 [first for year]
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 3
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 11
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 8
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 13
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 3

Early Thorn

Nothing remotely interesting bird-wise to report.

Listening to ..

What a cracking day. Blistering sunshine, clear skies, nice and warm. Apparently. I was stuck at work in the cold glare of fluorescent lighting.

Nothing doing at Grove Park this morning or on the way home - predictably as I had my DSLR and it had been a clear night when every self-respecting migrant would get their skates on. Nothing to report moth-wise either as the same clear skies meant I kept the traps in the shed. They are back on tonight though - after a very warm day with clear skies it has clouded over just as darkness falls - perfect, for a while at least.

In the meantime, here's a couple of tracks from the still superb 1988 Detroit Techno album Paradise by Inner City, which is what I have mainly been listening to this week. Enjoy.

More migrants and the moth photos

This morning as I left the house, just after posting the trapping summaries, the first garden Chiffchaff of the year was in song. Not actually in the garden, but viewable on the scrubby embankment that runs adjacent to us. Much later on, on the way home from work, I dropped past Grove Park again. The pair of LRPs were still milling about, but I was really pleased to find a superb bright male Wheatear knocking about close to the pathway with a few Meadow Pipits and Linnets. Typically the camera was at home - I'm going back again tomorrow with the DSLR, when no doubt nothing will be in range.

As promised, here's a selection of photos from last nights efforts:

All of the Brindled Pugs were superbly fresh, like these two

Red-green Carpet - nice

Mottled Grey - subtle

Pine Beauty - superb

Oak Nycteoline - you'd look knackered if you lived in the woods overwinter

Acleris cristana - ditto the Nycteoline

When out and about, it's always good to double-check you have everything you need in the car before setting off ...

Gennies - check
Cable reels - check
Traps - check
Tripod light - check
Catch box - check
Net & pots - check
Torches - check
Coffee - check
Folding seat ... bollocks




And from the garden:

Garden Tick

and a slightly smarter variant of Shoulder Stripe

I've not bothered with the garden traps tonight - crystal clear skies and plummeting temps after a good previous night generally means poor results.

Mothing 06/04/2010

Mild (still c10°C at 11pm), cloudy, pretty still and no rain. Perfect.

Although I left it a bit late I headed out to Gisborne's Gorse, an area of woodland within the Charnwood Lodge reserve. After a bit of a panic when it appeared that one of the combination locks was either knackered or re-coded (before it finally opened with a bit of brute force), I got set up and running for 20:30 just in time for the first moths to be flying. I ran 1 x 125W MV over a sheet, and 2 x 125W MV traps. I had no intention of staying too late - just a couple of hours to see what came in and hopefully to see Mottled Grey again (haven't seen it for a while).

Besides, there's something distinctly unnerving about sitting around in dark remote woodland on your own. In moments of stark lucidity, your brain assures you that the most dangerous things in the wood at that time are you, your car and your generator. Unfortunately the jumpy wimpy part of your brain shouts louder and makes you seek the security of the bright light you are using to attract the moths. My heart skipped quite a few beats when completely unexpectedly whilst walking to one of the traps, a Pheasant loudy vacated it's roost from a low branch c10ft directly above my head.

Anyway, the overall catch was 406 of 24sp. - pretty good for just 2 hours running. Good to see both Mottled Grey and Oak Nycteoline, plus I need to check how unusual taking Amblyptilia acanthadactyla away from the garden is.

0461 Ypsolopha ustella 1
0663 Diurnea fagella 42
1025 Tortricodes alternella 3
1044x Acleris ferrugana/notana 6
1054 Acleris cristana 1 [yeatick]
1497 Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 1 [yeartick]
1659 Yellow Horned (Achlya flavicornis galbanus) 1
1663 March Moth (Alsophila aescularia) 3
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 2
1760 Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata) 2 [yeartick]
1775 Mottled Grey (Colostygia multistrigaria) 5 [yeartick]
1852 Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata) 41 [yeartick]
1930 Oak Beauty (Biston strataria) 14
1947 Engrailed (Ectropis bistortata) 20
2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa) 2
2179 Pine Beauty (Panolis flammea) 1 [yeartick]
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 32
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 130
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 8
2189 Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda) 21
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 29
2256 Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) 3
2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 38
2423 Oak Nycteoline (Nycteola revayana) 2 [yeartick]


As it happens, when I got home I immediately nosed around my garden traps and found another acanthadactyla and, best of all, an overdue garden tick Red Chestnut. Total catch this morning was 45 of 15sp. (125W MV 21 of 10, 80W actinic 24 of 10).

0282 Caloptilia elongella 1 [first for year]
0663 Diurnea fagella 2
0667 Semioscopis steinkellneriana 1
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 1
1497 Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 1 [first for year]
1524 Emmelina monodactyla 3
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 2
1760 Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata) 1 [first for year]
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 1 [first for year]
2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa) 1 [FIRST FOR GARDEN]
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 2 [first for year]
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 11
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 8
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 9
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1

I'll post some photos later this evening.