Prompted by Peter & Ian's good catches I put the trap out last night but only recorded 3 December Moths.

Manor Road, Taunton, Skinner 40W actinic.

I can't match the catches of the previous posters but the much warmer temperature prompted me to put the trap on last night and one Winter Moth turned up. Not in the trap but on the wall behind. Min. temp. +4°C. The first moth in nearly six weeks.

John Connolly

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 4 degrees

In Robinson trap 26 December Moths, one Chestnut and one Winter Moth. On window, attracted by actinic light, 5 December Moths and 6 Winter Moths.

My most productive ever December night last night with 26 December Moths, 3 Winter Moths and singles of Satellite and Mottled Umber. 26 December Moths is as many as I have caught in the last three years in total here and is a testament to their abilty to survive ten consecutive nights of snow and ice.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 4 degrees

After days of frost and snow the thaw came last night as a welcome relief. I put an actinic light in a window and was rewarded with one Mottled Umber and two Winter Moths. I will get the trap out tonight.

Not surprisingly a blank night with minimum air temperature at -11 last night. No Polar Hawkmoths or Arctica caja!

Not exactly a mass emergence last night but 4 December Moths on a chilly and windy night wasn't a bad catch.

James and I went out to Merryfield at the weekend to see if Exapate congelatella was still present there. On a relatively balmy evening with the temperature at about six degrees we managed to see a few of the usual suspects at this time of year including Brick, Chestnut, Mottled Umber, Feathered Thorn Winter Moth and Yellow-line Quaker. One surprise was a male diving beetle Dytiscus marginalis which probably thought spring had arrived after the cold of the last few weeks. Another was a Twenty Plume Moth. As I was moving the light prior to switching it off, a single Exapate congelatella flew in. James found two more when he examined his traps so it is still hanging on. My specimen was really fresh so it may be that the cold has kept them from emerging until now. James also managed to find two or three Scarce Umber by walking along the rides with his headtorch and netting them, they rarely come to large MV bulbs.

I had my trap on for the first time since the middle of last month over the weekend. The December Moth mass emergence wasn't apparent in my garden with only one recorded alongside a lone Winter Moth.

Last night in Weston woods 10 December Moth and 3 Feathered Thorn. Biggest surprise was a Cypress Carpet in my garden trap.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min temp 4 degrees

They are all here John ! Last night we had 54 December Moths - a record for our garden and one Yellow Lined Quaker

Despite the warmer night (Min temp 4 degrees) nothing in my trap in Taunton this morning. Looking at the Garden Moth Survey forum this morning, December Moth seems to have emerged all over the place in good numbers last night.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min temp 4 degrees

With a warmer night more moths in the trap - 12 December Moths (including one pair in cop.) and two Chestnuts. Also in car headlights our first Winter Moth of the season.

A single Winter Moth on the outside of the greenhouse next to the trap. Min temp 5˚C but a brisk wind through the garden.

The first mild night for weeks rising to 5 degrees. Trapping from dusk until 8:30pm on 9th at Weston Woods produced Scarce Umber, Mottled Umber, Winter Moth and November moth. Total moths species for Weston this year have now reached 477 of which 298 are macros.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe

All week the weather was unsuitable for trapping here but I just thought it might be worth a try on Saturday. The min temp was -1 degree and I had one December Moth.

After 3 mothless weeks of the winter GMS I have at last taken a moth - a Brick Agrochola circellaris despite the evening starting with a covering of snow on the garden and a minimum temperature of -0.5˚C.