Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 7 degrees

Despite the drop in temperature we had a first for 2010 - two Blair's Shoulder-knot.

Having been on holiday in Northumberland for a fortnight in what appeared to be a virtually insect-free zone I took the camera for a walk by the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal this afternoon and found 2 more Death's Head Hawkmoth larvae feeding on Woody nightshade. These are 4th instar and were several hundred metres apart and a long way from where I found the first one at the beginning of the month. This individual is now mature and 11.5cm long.

The larvae I found have both decided to ecdyse.

4th instar Death's Head larva on Woody Nightshade, about to ecdyse.

After feeling that Autumn had arrived in the last week we were back up to a summer sized catch last night with nearly 500 macros from 25 different species. Large Wainscot and Brick were the best of a catch dominated by 269 Setacious Hebrew Characters. Beaded Chestnuts outnumbered the Lunar Underwings. I don't normally see Beaded Chestnuts until after the peak of the season for Lunar Underwings. If this is the case this year then it would appear that the latter have had their fourth poor season in a row. I will catch less than 100 here compared to 500+ in 2006. 23 Black Rustics was one of the best catches I've had of this moth.

Barely reaching 10 moths in the trap this morning but to my surprise, one of them was L-album Wainscot. This species has only recently been discovered here in Weston-super-Mare on 25th June 2010 at Sand Point.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 5 degrees

Only 12 moths of eight species in our trap including a Large Ranunculus which we usually find by day resting on our house wall as noted by Waring and Townsend. Earlier in the week we had the attractive micro Y.sequella the pattern of which lead some to call it the "Bunny Club moth"

Haven't trapped for a couple of weeks due to absence abroad, but what a difference 2 weeks makes!  Numbers down from the hundreds to just 19.  Still, new last night were:

Large Ranunculus Sallow Beaded Chestnut Lunar Underwing

A couple of Treble-bar seen today on one of the old coal tips at Radstock, where the foodplant Hypericum was abundant.  This appears to be the first record for ST65.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min temp 12 degrees

Last night we had our first Delicate since 2007and earlier in the week, trapping in a local wood, we had firsts for the season Red-green Carpet and Brick. We also had two Dingy Footmen which Mapmate considers to be very late and a first for ST03 Bulrush Wainscot.

Saw 2 hummingbird hawkmoths today, nectaring on Verbena bonariensis, my first records of these since 2006. Nice to see that they are still coming to the area. Verbena seems to attract a lot of butterflies too, especially now the buddleias have almost finished.

Even worse here in Taunton last night with the temperature plummeting to 3°C and the smallest catch since the 14th May. Sixteen macros of which twelve were Large Yellow Underwing and no micros at all. The only highlight was that I caught my first Lunar Underwing.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 7 degrees

Ian I think autumn has arrived ! We have had a number of Lunar Underwings, one or two Black Rustics and a first Yellow-lined Quaker.  Large Yellow underwings are down to 30, Setaceous Hebrew Characters to 28 and Somerset just missed out on their first Championship!

Autumn is definitely on its way here. Last night I had my first double figure catch since 1st of June with 47 Macros from only 9 different species. This included my 2 first Lunar Underwings of the year.

Trapping at Ham Hill last night revealed a good number of the usual suspects for this time of the year. Highlight was probably the 37 Feathered Gothics and 10 Hedge Rustics amongst them. We were trapping almost within sight of my garden but I have not recorded a Feathered Gothic here since 2004.

Large Yellow Underwing 33
Setaceous Hebrew Character 6
Brimstone Moth 5
Snout 1
Garden Carpet 1
Angle Shades 1
Red Underwing 1
Common Marbled Carpet 1
Flame Shoulder 1
Light Brown Apple Moth 1
Dusky Thorn 1
Dark Sword-grass 1
Lunar Underwing 2
Square-spot Rustic 1
Common Wainscot 1
Copper Underwing 1

An abundance of Light Brown Apple Moths in the trap on Friday, as well as the first Lunar Underwing and Brindled Green of the year.

Friday night had an increase in numbers over the last few nights, the first Black Rutic and a White Point being the best.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 14 degrees

The warmer night brought 35 species to our trap, the highlight was a Small Blood-vein which we have not seen since 2007. We also had the first, no doubt of many, Lunar Underwing. We also had a Small Magpie which Mapmate queried as being late. In fact it seems to be the latest recorded since John Day had them nearer the end of September at Yeovil in both 1983 and 1996.  Our mass captures continue with exactly 200 Large Yellow Underwings and 165 Setaceous Hebrew Characters.

Firsts for the year last night here were Red Underwing, Barred Sallow, Centre-Barred Sallow and Pale Eggar. The Pale Eggar was only the second in the last 10 years after one last year.

I have just received Mike Ridge's August meeting records and a couple of the notable catches from meetings not already mentioned were 217 White-Line Dart and 7 Archers Dart at Berrow Dunes on 03/08/10. Also trapped at Embelle Wood on 08/08/10 were 2 Golden-rod Pug, a first Exmoor record for Clouded Magpie, 35 July Highflyer and 23 Black Arches. At Ham Wall on 13/08/10 they recorded 25 Garden Tigers which I would suggest is the largest number seen on one night in Somerset for some years. I would be interested if anybody knows differently.

Small Ranunculus larva found on prickly lettuce in Charlotte Street car park, Bath, today.

Mike Ridge has asked me to post this: Moth night September 10th at Ham Hill Country Park ST468169 18.30 Meet at car park south of Stoke-sub-Hamdon PLEASE NOTE: NOW POSTPONED UNTIL MONDAY 13 SEPTEMBER BECAUSE OF SEVERE WEATHER WARNING FOR 10TH

Robin and Mike have been trapping regularly at various sites in the County. Mike has just sent me the results of 2 recent outings.

Steart Point, 27 August: Robin Clatworthy, Mike Ridge and David Matthews. A strong wind all evening at this exposed location resulted in a poor catch and trapping was abandoned at midnight.

15 Orange Swift (5)
993 Cyclamen Tortrix (1)
1838 Tawny Speckled Pug (1)
2091 Dark Sword-grass (1)
2102 Flame Shoulder (3)
2107 Large Yellow Underwing (8)
2123 Small Square-spot (8)
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character (6)
2134 Square-spot Rustic (6)
2197 Southern Wainscot (a local species)
2198 Smoky Wainscot (1)
2199 Common Wainscot (7) 2353 Flounced Rustic (4)
2361 Rosy Rustic (4).
59 individuals of 14 species.

Lower Chelmsine, 31 August: a provate small holding with ancient trees and newly-planted areas. Robin Clatworthy and Mike Ridge. The evening turned cool and clear before midnight, but Svenson's Copper Underwing was a nice surprise.

938 Agapeta zoegana (1)
1305 Agriphila tristella (1)
1405 Mother of Pearl (1)
1682 Blood-vein (3)
1738 Common Carpet (2)
1742 Yellow Shell (1)
1764 Common Marbled Carpet (1)
1776 Garden Carpet (4)
1906 Brimstone Moth (9)
1914 Dusky Thorn (1)
2044 Dingy Footman (1)
2091 Dark Sword-grass (1)
2102 Flame Shoulder (6)
2107 Large Yellow Underwing (47)
2111 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (1)
2123 Small Square-spot (3)
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character (118)
2133 Six-striped Rustic (1)
2134 Square-spot Rustic (37)
2199 Common Wainscot (12)
2269 Centre-barred Sallow (2)
2298 Svensson's Copper Underwing (2)
2343a Common Rustic agg (4)
2350 Small Wainscot (1)
2361 Rosy Rustic (3)
2474 Straw Dot (12)
2477 Snout (2).
278 individuals of 27 species.

I took the dog and the camera for a walk by the Bridgwater & Taunton canal at North Newton this afternoon. It was very poor photographically but after a fruitless hour I decided to photograph some Woody Nightshade flowers. As I set the camera up I noticed a small hawkmoth larva - a Death's Head, probably 3rd instar. Given its size it probably came from eggs laid by a different female from the one which laid the Westonzoyland egg.

3rd instar Death's Head larva on Woody Nightshade

Finding a wild Death's Head larva was a lifetime ambition! There is a lot of Woody Nightshade around, by the canal and the rivers and in and by the rhynes on the levels, so I will look harder now - although a further hour searching yielded nothing else!

A much quieter night with the lower temperature. I was pleased to catch a White-point, the nearest I've come to a migrant for some time.

This year is easily going to be the best year for Setacious Hebrew Characters here as well. I have already had over 3000 which is just short of the 2004 total which was my previous best year. In contrast the other common moths at this time of the year all seem to be doing poorly numerically and in comparison. In my last 5 trappings 55% of all moths caught (1864) have been Setacious. Firsts for the year last night were Hedge Rustic and Pink Barred Sallow.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min temp 13 degrees and very wet.

I agree with Doug that the numbers of Setaceous Hebrew Characters this year have been remarkable and only this week did the Large Yellow Underwings, usually easily our most numerous moth, overtake them with 275 against 186.  A very full trap! It has also been a good year for Feathered Gothic and Hedge Rustic. Last night we had our first Orange Swift for the year.

My first Gem of the year other migrants Dark Sword Grass 2 Silver Y 6 and a Rush Veneer. Setaceous Hebrew Charater numbers, number more than the total sum of all other species.