Nil. Nowt. None. Nought. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Niente. Nada. Nichts. Nihil.  Nutt'n.  The sum total of moths in two traps, however you say it !!

Ergo - nul points pour moi.

Seeing John's picture of Amblyptilia acanthadactyla reminded me that I've found around half a dozen of these in my greenhouse in the last few weeks. I assume that they're emerging from some garden plants which I've put in the greenhouse to overwinter.

Just 3 December Moths in the Trap this morning, despite promising conditions. Promising conditions they were - until the 40mph gusts bought in the rain!

Four moths last night (!) , 2 Feathered Thorns, 1 December, & my first Sprawler for 3 years. The only one in the trap was one of the Thorns, all the others were lurking nearby - maybe if I'd got up earlier, there would have been more - who Knows ?

The only reason I put the trap out last night (Friday) was because it was Winter Garden Moth Scheme night - nothing at all! However on Thursday night there were two moths on the kitchen window - my first Winter moth of the year and a fine specimen of a very attractive Plume moth, Amblyptilia acanthadactyla.
Amblyptilia acanthadactyla from Langport

Two moths in my garden trap - Epiphyas postvittana and a "rather early" Hebrew Character.

No Rusty Dot Pearls here (only 3 miles from Sue). In fact only 3 moths last night - 2 Feathered Thorns on the window frames outside the traps and one second generation Dark Arches in the Actinic. Oh well, keep trying.

On Isle of Wight for few days- beautiful Cypress Carpet flew in through window last night

accompanied by lots of Rusty-dot Pearls here too.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 10 degrees

37 moths of 12 species the most interesting being Vestal (2), Dark Sword-grass (1) and a record 17 Rusty Dot Pearl - I have just seen that at Portland last night they had 38.

I did have the trap out last night in what appeared to be ideal conditions for the time of year. I only had 5 moths though they were a combination of species I have never had in the trap together before. Alongside December Moth, Feathered Thorn and Satellite were a Vines Rustic and a Common Quaker.

The forecast was for rain, so I didn't bother to put the traps out, which in the event may have been a mistake, as there was hardly any wet stuff. However, there was a Satellite trying to commit suicide by drowning in the dogs' water bowl under the outside light !! (Hopefully none the worse for the experience). This is the first Satellite here since April 2010, and only the second iin 3 years. Having had 7 records in 2006, one wonders where they've been in the years since.

Unlike Peter I had only 2 moths last night but one of them was only my second ever Scarce Umber.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 8 degrees

Despite the lower temperature we had 27 moths of eleven species thie highlight being a Gem which we have not recorded since October 2006. We also had seven Rusty Dot Pearl which is having an exceptional year here as we have recorded a total of 129 moths over 53 nights. We also had FFY - Winter Moth (2)

A bit cool last night but as it was garden Moth Scheme night the trap went out - like John C I thought that the trap was empty this morning but found one Dark Chestnut and a very late Dark Arches on the last egg carton.

The Gem larvae are now eating me out of house and home!

We always seem to be a few degrees lower than the forecast temperature here and last night was no exception at 8°C compared to a forecast 11°C. Just one moth, a Turnip Moth but I was glad to see it as I thought at first that the trap was empty.

First December Moth here too,with 1 Chestnut, 1 Yellow-line Quaker on 16th, 17th a bit better, 4 Feathered Thorns,2 Chestnuts, 2 yellow-line Quakers, 2 Sprawlers, 1 Black Rustic back.

Three singletons - an improvement on last time (by two !) - 1 Beaded Chestnut, 1 Feathered Thorn and 1 December Moth (first this year)

The Gem larvae which emerged last week are growing apace. Most of them are late second instar and about to ecdyse.

Late second instar larva of Gem Orthonama obstipata

A little better here, first 2 Chestnuts

3 Sprawlers, 1 Beaded Chestnut, a very faded Brick and a Turnip Moth.

Forecast not too cold,damp - a good moth night maybe ? Well, hardly - just one Grey Shoulder-knot playing solitaire ! This is however only my fourth record of this species here, and the first since Feb.2007, so I suppose I can't complain too loudly. I suspect there was a little too much of a breeze to get a lot. Never mind, will try again another night.

Last night was the first time I had run my trap for a couple of weeks. Four moths of four species caught: Feathered Thorn, Silver Y, December Moth and Mottled Umber.

A Good Night, with 7 species including 7 feathered thorns, a Sprawler and a late european corn borer.

Last night was the first night of the winter Garden Moth Scheme - just one Light Brown Apple Moth, one Yellow-line Quaker and two Feathered Thorn.

Small numbers this week, still Large Wainscot(1) & Feathered Thorn(1), first Sprawler, Rusty-dot Pearl and Light Brown Apple Moth appeared

Only 5 moths last night but they did include only my 2nd ever Sprawler, the first being in 2001. The previous night gave a fair number of moths including my first Vapourer of the year. I often see what I presume are Vapourers flying around the garden but seeing them in the trap is quite unusual here.

A decent night with 6 species, including a few firsts for the year - Red Green Carpet, Blair's Shoulder Knot and Chestnut

A suprisingly good night last night with 25 moths of 10 different species including 3 Red-Green Carpets. This is an annual here but I rarely see it as anything other than singletons.

Paul Newman's Gem (30 October) laid a few eggs on the journey from East Lydford to Langport. I had no idea whether they were fertile or not, but put some damp moss in the pot with them, having read that they will feed on Groundsel. The first larvae hatched this morning and are now happily feeding on Groundsel in our living room. They are minute.

According to Waring & Townsend the Gem is unable to overwinter here so I will pot up some Groundsel and see what happens to the larvae.

First instar larva of Gem Orthonama obstipata bred from female caught at East Lydford

Cold & damp last night, so only 5 moths, all different, including my first Vestal since October 2008, and only the second since 2006, when I had a dozen records, all in September of that year. This Vestal was actually sitting on a window-sill several feet away from the trap, so I was lucky to see it at all, and lucky the birds hadn't seen it first !

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min temp 5 degrees

Only seven mpths of five species but one was new for the year - the migrant - a Pearly Underwing of which we have only had singletons since their best year, 2006, when we had 25. John, thanks for posting your great photo of Palpita vitrealis - apparently the second Somerset record of this migrant for the year.

Robin Clatworthy took this elegant migrant Pyralid a few days ago and passed it on to me to photograph. It has now been released.

The moth was very twitchy even after a night in the fridge but it kept extending its proboscis so I put it on a flowerhead of Coriander which is growing in the greenhouse - it immediately settled down and started to nectar. It is quite a beautiful species!

1408 Palpita vitrealis from Merriott

Thankyou to everyone who attended the AGM last night - a high turnout - and especially to Biz and Ginny who organised the refreshments!.

We were entertained by an excellent presentation on the National Moth Recording Scheme by Dr. Richard Fox of Butterfly Conservation, and Chair of the Devon Moth Group.

However we no longer have a Secretary - a volunteer is urgently needed. Details from me - a laptop is available for use by the successful applicant.

Like John, in recent weeks, I have noticed a number of strange second brood individuals with 1 each of Shoulder - Striped Wainscot and Dark Arches.

Reasonable week with small numbers 12 species:

• first Satellite last night
• Feathered Thorn(1)
• Shuttle-shaped dart(1)
• Black Rustic(2)
• Blair's Shoulder-Knot(1)
• Green-brindled Cresc(7)
• Merveille du Jour(2)
• Yellow-line Quaker(10)
• Beaded Chestnut(18)
• Angle Shades(1)
• Large Wainscot(1)

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 8 degrees

Our first December Moth for the season (we had one on New Years Day!) and our second Streak this autumn which is also only our second since 2003. Is it just a coincidence that we lost the food plant, Broom, in 2004 and only replaced it this year ?.

Fairly poor catches in the trap but a second (different) individual of Dark Arches and a very early Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica. Paul Newman's female Gem laid several eggs before release so I'll try to overwinter the larvae on potted groundsel in the greenhouse.

There has been reasonably good mothing here in the last week or so. For example on 27/10/11 I had 59 macros of 17 different species alongside large numbers of unidentifiable flies and over 20 Harlequin Ladybirds. Like Peter I had a record number of Green Brindled Crescents with 12, more than an average yearly total. I also had 3 firsts for the year in Mottled Umber, my first Figure of Eight for 10 years and a Scarce Bordered Straw. Yesterday morning I had another two Scarce Bordereds along with my first Feathered Thorn of the year. This was my 283rd different Macro of the year. In 2006 I had 287 different species but I only get about 250-260 in a normal year. I don't expect to catch any more new species this year but if the migrants continue as they are it is just possible I will match the 2006 figure.