Before all this started, I'd already highlighted that Red Kite, Raven and Peregrine were hoped-for garden ticks, almost expected if I spent enough time at home / in the garden looking out for them. So the fact that the first two have come along during lockdown is great, but not a surprise and I've then been expecting a flyover Peregrine to come along any time. But what I wasn't expecting was that I'd add another raptor first! Very early this afternoon I nipped out to the garden with a plate of salad (yes, real actual salady salad) to enjoy in one of the sunny spells, and as I sat eating it a Buzzard came very low over the garden mewing. I went and grabbed my bins thinking it would come back and circle around like they usually do, and to look out for any other birds whilst I was out. No more Buzzards or any other large raptors in the next few minutes. But then out of the blue, a falcon came tearing into view. I immediately knew what it was from the long slim-looking wings and relatively slight body, and I got the bins up in time to see a superb Hobby blast over heading north-west. Brilliant. Not completely outlandish as I've seen a couple over the years down the lane. Much later in the afternoon a flock of at least 15 Swifts came over the garden screeching, and they loitered in the vicinity for a good while feeding overhead before gradually drifting north-ish.
So to the moth trap. I ran the 125W MV last night as there was a potential for rain around dawn and my actinic trap is still electrically unsafe. The barbeque is currently sitting in the exact spot against the kitchen wall where I usually run the trap, so I had it positioned about two meters further out on an old curtain lining as a sheet over the pebbles. I had a good feeling when on the first check there were two Pale Tussocks and a Flame Carpet already in. When I went back out a little later, I noticed a movement on a low wall that was close to the trap (but would normally be a couple of meters further away from it). This is the wall ....
It is absolutley nothing special and it's been there as long as we've lived here (26years now I've just realised). The contents of the planting were culled along with everything else before the winter, so it's just got some scraggy bits that have come back up. The bricks have some fine algae and lichen bits on it, and somehow it has avoided being pressure washed to death by Nichola. The movement I notced was near the middle of the front face on the lowest brick .... here ....
So a quick look with phone torch and I could not believe my eyes ....
Luffia lapidella f. ferchaultella
How the actual F does an apterous parthenogenetic species manage to get onto one of my garden walls? Some lepidopteran larvae are thought to be able to 'balloon' to disperse but probably not this one. Surely it can't have crawled very far to get on my wall! Anyway this most unexpected event meant that I'd managed to add a new species to the garden moth list before emptying the trap. Species 699 - one to go!
Today I've had a good look around, and I can't find any other cases on walls, fences or trunks. I didn't collect this one as, quite frankly, there's not much point trying to rear one out as I don't think the female even bothers leaving the case before laying and dying. It's got a much better chance of surviving and multiplying if left alone.
The trap this morning was relatively busy, and happily it was bone dry. The total catch was 31 of 20sp., and of those there were 10 NFY species. I filled up lots of tubs to photograph a few moths for a change.
Pale Tussock
Flame Carpet
Small Magpie
Foxglove Pug
Currant Pug
V-Pug
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Brimstone Moth
Bee Moth
The moth trap is out again, and again there is a chance of rain pushing up from further south just before dawn. Hopefully it will pick up something before then. In the meantime I've got some sawflies and diptera to try and pin tonight.
