Stonesby Quarry 20/06/2008 Summary

The overall catch for the night was a meagre 120 of 41sp (from 2 x 125W MV traps and a 125W MV light over a sheet). The main highlights were a couple of tortricids and a plume : Aethes cnicana (county tick for me), Cochylimorpha straminea and Stenoptilia pterodactyla. The only macro highlight was a couple of Small Elephant Hawk-moths, and the most numerous species was Beautiful Golden Y (12).


Aethes cnicana - tick


Agapeta zoegana - smart

Stonesby Quarry - 20/06/2008

Me and Adrian Russell ventured out to Stonesby Quarry last night for a short mothing session. First time I've been to this LRWT reserve - looks very good and reminded me very much of Brown's Hill Quarry. It was already starting to get dusky as we arrived though so no chance to check for orchids although we found a single Pyramidal after dark. Nothing too exciting on the moth front as it turned cold by midnight (although we had expected a deluge so at least we got some records in for the site). There are still a few micros to sort out and the list to be compiled so I'll update on that in another post. Perhaps of more interest was finding glow-worms - always excellent to see. Would have been even better if I'd remembered my camera! A lolloping badger and at least 3 foxes on the way home, along with a couple of Little Owls on the way there, completed the wildlife interest for the night.