From the garden trap : 06/03/2025

I expected the garden trap to be a bit busier than it was, with decent min. temps after a few warm days. But the stiff breeze that came with dusk probably affected it. 25 of 6sp. with nothing exciting.

Acleris cristana

Small Quaker

Common Quaker

Whilst I'm at it, here's a few odd moths from the garden earlier in the year ....

Clouded Drab (24/02/2025)

Hebrew Character (24/02/2025)

Dotted Border (01/02/2025)

Early Moth (18/01/2025)

Here's a properly great track from The Shamen back in 1987, before more crappy stuff they did [ie Ebeneezer Goode].

Home Computer

So I've spent most of the last week head-scratching and fannying about with my PC. It started last Saturday when an Excel file I was in the process of opening simply disappeared into the ether. No sign of it in the Recycle Bin, and Hidden Files set to show anyway so no sign of it - simply gone. It was a file I'd been sent from Butterfly Conservation that came on a time-limited We Transfer link, so I assumed the file must have some sort on in-built self-destruct based on the date and thought no more of it. Then later in the day, the same happened with another file. Shite - all the hallmarks of virus activity. I have Norton 360 running, so nothing should get past anyway, but even so I then spent the whole of Saturday evening running a full scan. Nothing found, no virus on the machine or within the files.

I decided to back-up and move files about, and that is when it became clear that the hard-drive on the PC was starting to throw a wobbly. The upshot is that I've not lost anything important, and all the key files and stuff I need are recovered and or/backed-up, or at least recoverable. But I have lost a load of recent photo files - essentially everything I'd taken/saved from the TG-6 since mid-August (the last full back-up I did) - all the earlier files were still fine. This is a bit of a pisser as it means that there a few significant moths and suchlike that I can no longer re-edit or have anything better than the low-res versions I've posted on here, Facebook, Naturespot etc. Still it could be a lot worse.

I'm usually pretty good at backing up, but of course unless you back up literally every time you change or create a file then there is always a chance of loss. I've sourced another external HDD and recreated my hard drive, and I've then completely deleted everything from the internal hard drive, run the disk checker, saved a few files back onto it and de-fragged it again after that. All seems okay, and probably will be for a good few GB but either way  and have moved everything that I'm working on 'live' to a One Drive synced folder. I've also backed up a few key files on Google Drive for good measure. And I'll have to start backing up more frequently - even more so now that I'm holding all of the VC55 moth data, not just my own stuff. It's more of a time-swallowing ball ache than anything, certainly it's not fun.

The milder conditions in the last week brought one one or two moths. The lack of decent woodland close to home always limits the potential for much here in the winter period.

March Moth 28/01/2023 - the earliest ever here, first Jan record

Pale Brindled Beauty 02/02/2023

Early Moth 01/02/2023

Clouded Drab 03/03/2023

and a Mottled Umber from 25/12/2022 that I'd not posted

Carry On Intruders

Today has been damned miserable from a weather perspective; damp with either light drizzle or snow through most of the day and a bit nippy - certainly not the sort of weather that makes you want to jump out of bed and get out and about. Which was probably just as well, as I wanted to catch up with a few work bits anyway. I'm finding that working from home again, general Covid restrictions and the Premier League and cup fixture lists being strung throughout from Monday to Sunday with everything televised seems to mean that the lines between week and weekend are blurred to the point of being irrelevant. I can take time out in the week when I want, and work at the weekend if I need to - it really doesn't matter!

I have unexpectedly added a species to the 1km list though, thanks to a very quick squint outside last night with a torch. On the same uPVC window ledge where I found the small spider Nigma walckenaeri on Thursday, I saw a tiny blob trundling around water drops which looked decidedly Collembola-like to the naked eye. I grabbed the camera and tried for a few shots, of which a couple came out well enough to name it ....

You can just about make out the change in antennal colouration and the multi-barred pattern on the rear of the abdomen to confirm Dicyrtomina saundersi. I might expect to find globular springtails if sieving leaf-litter in the garden I suppose, but living on a white plastic window-ledge is taking Collembola synanthropy to a new (off the ground) level.

I also pointed the camera at the Early Moth from Thursday night, though I'm not sure why I bothered as it's not the smartest individual. I seem to feel a sort of obligation to photograph just about every moth species that turns up in the garden through the year, a feeling which always fizzles out by April when the numbers increase and I then pick and choose what looks nice / is scarce etc. I'm always amazed to find that there are numerous common species that fly later in the year that I've hardly ever photographed, and then promptly forget the next year.

My copy of the latest useful bit of coleopteran literature landed on my doormat today.

A high number of the species in these families can be found in carrion; the uninvited undertakers of the natural world intruding on the corpses. Some also come to light, and a number of the Silphidae are regular moth trap intruders. A quick flick through shows some brilliant features such as surveying tips and I like the habitat tables. The species accounts are very detailed, and the illustrated keys look excellent. All I need now is some dead animals in the square, and I can also think about how best to deploy anything our blasted git of a cat brings home.

Meanwhile, how great is this new track from Gary ....

Leper

The title reflects the lepidopteran content, and the social distancing context! Today I headed out for what is now a bi-weekly big shop, and the experience was no better than last time. I have no idea what level of herd immunity we're at, but I can testify that we are at rampantly high levels of herd idiocy. People should be avoiding each other like they've visibly got something that you'd absolutley not want to have. Like Leprosy. I was in no rush, and took my time waiting for people to move. Many were similarly pleasant and considerate, many others were complete wankers.

I had the synergetic/actinic trap out last night, and it was as pants as I thought it would be. There was still one NFY species though, but not a nice colourful one.

Rustic Shoulder-knot

Later this afternoon I headed out for another walk down the disued railway line. It was damper underfoot after the rainy week, but not wet as such. The sun was in and out, but it was warm and a pleasant enough distaction. Again it was just about devoid of other people - one old lady departing when I arrived. I took a sweep net this time, potted a few bits and pointed the camera at a few others. I'll come back to the camera.

The hawthorn blossom was again my target, but beetle activity was still low with no big showy longhorns. More larvae showered down though, including one I've not seen before ....

Early Moth - not as sharp as I would like

Feathered Thorn

Green-brindled Crescent - head capsule about to pop off

.... plus lots of the same species as last weekend, like this Dotted Border/Scarce Umber

A few butterflies were active, though only settled when the sun went behind cloud ....

Red Admiral

Orange-tip

Speckled Wood

I mentioned last year that my Nikon P600 camera was starting to play up a bit and that I'd probably replace it. Lots of stuff got in the way after that, and I wasn't using it quite as much as I would have liked anyway. Today though the camera has driven me around the bend. The mode select wheel at the top is fine on some of the setting, but on others the camera keeps flipping between modes. Sometimes when viewing the images it refuses to zoom in to view, and then crashes back to shoot mode. And other times it just freezes and I have to disconnect the battery to get it back. Today it completely went for a wank and after refusing to turn on, eventually came beck to life having completely reset itself to factory settings. Otherwise I couldn't be happier with the camera - the image quality is fine (any really duff images are down to me rather than the camera), and I have had it a fair while now (5.5 years). But enough is enough, and I've ordered a replacement. Not quite a direct replacement, but near enough - the Nikon Coolpix P950. It will essentially be the same, except bigger and heavier with an even longer 83x optical zoom. It should arrive early next week, and no doubt I'll then have to work out what step-down ring I need to attach the raynox lenses.

2019 Garden Moth Catchup

The garden traps have been out quite a bit more than I usually manage/bother in the first couple of months of the year, helped by being at home and February weather being generally excellent. Things have dropped off markedly over the last couple of windy wet weeks though. Mostly expected stuff, some a little earlier than usual, with one completely unexpected arrival ....

Rush Veneer - 28/02/2019

This turned up on the back of a pretty strong period of immigration into the UK, though far from the excitement that Crimson Speckled must have brought to a couple of recorders up and down the country. This is the earliest arrival on record for VC55.

So far the yearlist is up to 17 species, +4 in the larval stage and 2 leaf-mines. Here's all the macros:

Oak Beauty - 19/02/2019

Good to see this is now annual here.

Dotted Border - 14/02/2019

This has had a remarkably good year here.

Early Moth - 03/01/2019

15 of these to an outdoor light fitting with a 12W blacklight LED bulb up to mid-Feb.

Pale Brindled Beauty - 15/02/2019

March Moth - 12/02/2019

Red-green Carpet - 19/02/2019

Chestnut - 22/02/2019

Common Quaker - 17/02/2019

Clouded Drab - 22/02/2019

Satellite - 17/02/2019

Satellite - 16/02/2019

Dark Chestnut - 01/03/2019

Hebrew Character - 27/02/2019

Twin-spotted Quaker - 01/03/2019

Foggy Moths

So yeah, I've been busy/distracted and done nowt worthy of bothering the blog about.

I have sorted out all of my 2017 garden moth records (381 species including 17 additions, garden list up to 684). I'm also just about finished putting together a garden moth report, quite some time since I last bothered. I've not run the garden traps since November, but I have stuck a 20W actinic CFL into an old outdoor light fitting that was still live and conseqently I've had one or two moths so far this year. Mostly Winter Moths, but also a Scrobipalpa costella and then last night a couple of surprises.

Conditions were far from good, not too cold but certainly not unseasonably warm, fairly still but a quite dense fog early in the night. Quite a surprise then to find two Early Moths and a Grey Shoulder-knot resting on the wall under the pale blue glow of the actinic. Trouble is that it is pitch black when I go to work and the same when I get home, so these are compromised shots using the daylight bulbs I have. Doesn't help when both moths were not playing ball ..... not much use putting winter-flying moths in the fridge!

Early Moth

Grey Shoulder-knot

Early Moth

Today was one of those days where it looked quite nice out, a bit of sun and dry, but standing on the touchline this afternoon whilst Josh kicked a bag of wind about with the Cosby team it was bloody freezing cold. All the more surprising then that the first garden macro for 2015 appeared to a lit window this evening - and for the third year on the trot it was an Early Moth.

An Early Moth

Literally. First garden moth of 2014, attracted to the synergetic light and sitting tightly on the adjacent fence.

Early Moth

These can be a bit of a pain to photograph when fresh, as the wings are shiny and reflective.

A Morning Walk

Once again, up early enough to get out early to slog around my local environ in wellies. Before I set out though I quickly checked through the 80W/20W Actinic/CFL combo trap that I'd out in the garden overnight. Nothing actually in the trap, but I did find my first identifiable adult moth of the year on the adjacent fence (having noted a few moths fluttering in the car headlights last night as well). Probably the drabbest looking geometrid you could imagine, but very pleased to see this one nonetheless ...

Early Moth

When I did get going, it was just starting to get light. It was mild but pretty cloudy and dull - highly unlikely to make for any good photos. I had a really good morning seeing some excellent local birds (all good for the square challenge and also a few for Foot It). As I ambled down Springwell Lane, a Green Woodpecker was yaffling away and one of the regular Little Owls was obligingly sitting out in the open. I carried on down the lane and headed over to 'Countesthorpe Meadow' - or at least that's what I'm calling it. A small series of damp meadows with Whetstone brook running through it. The northern half of this is within my square, and so were Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher and best of all a couple of Treecreepers. I then got a message that there was a decent flock of Waxwings over in Cosby so I started walking west. Cosby is still within my Foot It area but well outside of my 1k square unfortunately.

When I got there, 35+ Waxwings were still knocking about - making tentative feeding forays down to a single berry-laden tree. Not entirely sure what the tree was, but looks very similar to what the Enderby birds were feeding on late in the 2010 influx. I think it may be Himalayan Tree-cotoneaster, but with so many berries on it still it's obviously not favoured by anything until there is no choice.

The Waxwings were not quite as obliging as they can sometimes be, mainly due to an ageing Staff Terrier barking its head off from one of the houses around the green. The same mental dog had earlier barked agressively at me when it arrived home with its owner - thought it was going to come for me so I was fully prepared to shut it up with my right welly. So with wary Waxwings, crappy light, a demented twat of a dog and to be honest little time and patience, I got no good photos. So here's a rubbish one and some arty efforts which hide my lack of photographic prowess.

By now I'd walked a good way and needed to head home to get stuck into some decorating .....

By the time I arrived home, I'd walked another 9km and been out for 2.75hrs. Aside from the above mentioned birds that were all Foot It ticks, I also picked up Wren, Black-headed Gull, Redwing and Mistle Thrush for my 1k square. Just as I got to the door I also noted a large harvestman on the wall - Opilio canestrinii.

Recoveries, Garden Moths, Pickworth

A mixed update.

First up, I've had details through for two of the colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls in the last post (no news so far on the Polish bird). VH85 was the most interesting as it is a new individual for Leicestershire. It was ringed as a pullus on 05/06/2010 at Hirsholm near to Frederikshavn in Denmark (same place and ringer as Red V028 I posted about last week). It was recorded at Knott End-on-Sea near to Fleetwood, Lancashire on 09/02/2011, and then no further reports until mine. JAN4 from Norway is not quite so enigmatic, as it has now been reported from Watermead Park by six different recorders. It was ringed as an adult male at Grünerbrua on the outskirts of Oslo in Norway on 20/04/2010, recorded at Watermead Park on 10/12/2010, back in Norway at two different sites near to Oslo on 15/04/2011 and 20/09/2011, and then back at Watermead Park on 01/11/2011 and 10/11/2011, and then again on 7 dates between 04/02/2012 to my sighting on 09/03/2012. It is 1086km as the gull flies between the ringing site and Watermead Park  ...

Garden mothing with the Synergetic/CFL trap on Thursday was pants - just 2 of 2sp:

08/03/2012
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 1
1497 Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 1

Friday night was better, with both the Synergetic and MV traps running and the first spring noctuid species at last, but still a bit rubbish with 22 of 6sp. although a late Early Moth was a bonus.

09/03/2012
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 2
1497 Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 2
1524 Emmelina monodactyla 4
1934 Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria) 1
1960 Early Moth (Theria primaria) 1 (NFY)
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 12 (NFY)

Agonopterix heracliana

Amblyptilia acanthadactyla

Common Quaker

Early Moth

No garden mothing last night. I decided that with so few moths coming to me, I was going to go to them in big style. I planned to take six traps and a sheet kit all the way over to Pickworth Great Wood where I was sure there would be some moths. Adrian was keen, and joined me with another couple of traps after he'd also left two running at nearby Lady Wood. I knew when I had arrived, as the in-built twatnav in the car showed me stuck in a big roadless green patch ...

Pickworth has got brilliant access all through the wood, though some rides can be a bit damp and the main gate to get in is a right pain in the arse. For this early season session I opted to run at the eastern side of the wood which meant I didn't have to open the gate. I set up three traps along the main ride first and got them going, then another three along a parallel ride and the sheet at a turning point along the entrance track. When Adrian turned up he ran two traps further along the eastern ride from the sheet. This ride and the entrance track are pretty much the boundary with Lincs (Holywell Wood is in Lincs).

Red dot is 125W MV over sheet, orange dots are 125W MV traps, green dot is Synergetic trap,

cyan dot is an actinic combo trap

A good sight, lights = working gennie and traps

This sight wasn't quite so good initially - the nearest MV trap seems to have a dodgy choke wire ....

Moths on the sheet early on - a very small fraction of what we recorded

Plenty of bits to photograph, and it will be a substantial list for an early season session - I reckon there will be close to 2000 Small Quakers alone ......