The last two nights...

Tuesday 28th February...

After a very warm day, the min temp this morning was 6 degrees at dawn.
A good catch for this time of year with three year additions. The Early Grey seems early?

Taxa
0461 Ypsolopha ustella 2
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 11
1055 Acleris hyemana 2 NFY
1663 March Moth (Alsophila aescularia) 1 NFY
1926 Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria) 1
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 26
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1 NFY the earliest county record by 11 days!
2256 Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) 4
2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 3

51 moths of 9 sp.

March Moth

Early Grey

Wednesday 29th February... 

3 degrees min. Spring Usher was only my third in the garden. Another nice February catch.

Taxa
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 2
1663 March Moth (Alsophila aescularia) 1
1926 Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria) 1
1932 Spring Usher (Agriopis leucophaearia) 1 NFY
1934 Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria) 1 NFY
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 14
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 3
2256 Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) 2
2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 1

26 Moths of 9 sp.

Spring Usher

Dotted Border

Another new species....

Trap on last night from 5.30pm - 11.30pm. Calm overcast down to 5 degrees.

Taxa
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 2 NFY
1055 Acleris hyemana 1 NEW
1799 Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata) 1
1926 Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria) 5
1932 Spring Usher (Agriopis leucophaearia) 1 my second this year.
1960 Early Moth (Theria primaria) 2
2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 4

Total 16 moths of 7 species.

A great catch for Feb here. Last year I only caught one moth all month!

A.hyemana feeds on heather and bilberry so what it is doing in Howick is beyond me. A new species for the garden.

Acleris hyemana

Agonopterix heracliana

Chestnut

Pale brindled Beauty. 2 light, 1 darker.

Winter Moth

Early Moth

Spring Usher

A new species already!

Spring Usher

Chestnut

1932 Spring Usher (Agriopis leucophaearia) 1 NEW

2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 1 NFY

Only two moths trapped last night between 5pm and 10pm. Despite the very bright and clear moonlight one of them was a new species for me. 

Spring Usher is a scarce species in Northumberland with only 34 previous records of 42 individuals. In VC68 this is only the 8th record. To give you an idea what the numbers are like, the last one  was a single in 2006, then one in 2003 and one in 1997. So, I might get another one in five years time or so...

The Chestnut is much commoner in the garden and was an expected winter addition. This one is pretty raggy arsed, maybe its been lucky to escape an interested bird...

2 moths of 2 species bringing the year total to 6 moths of 6 species...2 up on last year at this time.