Vestal flying around in the garden yesterday afternoon and another 3 in the trap last night. 26 species in all, and first Autumn Blair's Shoulder Knot, Merveille du Jour, and Large Ranunculus, a very fresh Beautiful Hook-tip, majority made up of Setaceous Hebrew Characters, Lunar Underwings, Common Marbled carpets and Black Rustics. Yellow Underwings declining. Also 2 rush Veneers and a Large fruit-tree Tortrix.

It's good to see others catching Lunar Underwings but here they are still scarce. Until their numbers crashed countywide in 2007 I regularly recorded over 500 a year in my garden but have only once recorded over 100 since. I don't think this year will be an exception. Despite lots of moths, including over 50 Setacious Hebrew Characters, I recorded just 5 Lunar underwings.
Migrants were around and I also recorded another 2 Vestals, my first Gem of the year as well as Dark Sword Grass and Silver Y.  A very tatty Pretty Chalk Carpet and a Brindled Green were also good sightings for here.
Yesterday at Ham Hill on a warm but overcast afternoon I was very suprised and pleased to see at least 100 Red Admirals nectaring on the buddleia along with about 20 Commas, up to 10 Small Coppers and only singles of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell.

For me a similar experience to Paul's. Last night I had 86 moths of 15 species. Beaded Chestnut was FFY. The bulk of the trap was made up of 4 species, Common Marbled Carpet (13), Setaceous Hebrew Character (23), Large Yellow Underwing (15) and Lunar Underwing (14). The counts for CMC and SHC are my highest ever for those species.

Also of interest were a couple of Black Rustics and 3 Large Ranunculus.

I don't think it was as warm as forecast last night, and the fairly low number of moths seems to bear this out - 56 in total, of 21 species.  FFY was a Mallow, and a Dark Swordgrass and a Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella) both of which which I thought were the first this year, in fact both turned out to be the second.  I must be getting old and forgetful !!  The most numerous species this time were Black Rustics (10), which do seem to be having a good year. I don't recall seeing as many in past seasons.

A dry night but slightly cooler than of late produced 46 moths of 13 species of which Large Ranunculus, Black Rustic and Rosy Rustic were new for the year.

892 Mompha subbistrigella turned up in the house on the 28th and is, I believe, a first for me.

Disturbed this very Beautiful Plume tidying up the rampant Hedge Woundwort- perhaps I will let it invade after all!

T Min 13.4°C with occasional showers. 34 moths of 14 species. Three Black Rustic, single Cabbage Moth and Copper Underwing & FFG Common Plume.

Common Plume

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min temp 14 degrees, Thunder and Lightning with heavy rain.

Only 100 moths of 21 species including one FFY a Blair's Shoulder-knot.

Numbers down for last night i think the sky was clear of clouds until this morning, 17 species totaling 73 plus 3 Rush Veneers, Lunar Underwings came top with 23 Large Yellow Underwings 13 the rest well below, with 1 Mallow as first for the year.

Reasonable night, 102 moths of 24 species, 22 Lunar UW, 19 Lge YUW and 18 Black Rustic made up the majority. FFY Beaded Chestnuts and Sallows, and FFG Cypress carpet.

A quieter night last night, with 81 moths of 18 species.  The best was a lovely Merveille de Jour on the wall by the trap (FFY). Lunar Underwings (22) actually pipped Large Yellow (20) last night! Also of interest were a Black Rustic, 3 Rosy Rustics, a Frosted Orange and a Burnished Brass.

T Min 13.3C. 58 moths of 14 species including my second garden record of Large Wainscot. Like Paul I too had a surprise, in the form of a Rosy Footman. The literature I have gives mid-Jun - mid-Aug as the flight period with no mention of a second brood; an immigrant perhaps? A quick search on the Net and I found single records from early-Oct 2005 in both Devon and Surrey.

Rosy Footman.

Large Wainscot.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe

We have had a rush of autumnal species over the last two nights, FFY - Green-brindled Crescent, Barred Sallow, Large Ranunculus and both Beaded and Flounced Chestnut. We were also pleased to get another two Vestals.

A flat battery ruled out the actinic trap, so I was only able to run the MV.  As a result numbers were down a bit, with only 42 moths of 13 species.  There was the usual large proportion of Setaceous HC (8) & Lunar Underwings (18), and 2 FFY - Blair's Shoulder-knot & Beaded Chestnut (2). 

The real surprise was a very late Pretty Chalk Carpet, in quite good condition, and not at all faded. The authorities all say late June to August as the flight season, and my only other record here was in the first week of July this year.  Is it possible that I have had two broods this year ?  Food for thought.

We had rain and the best catch for a number of nights, 31 species which included Blairs Shoulder Knot, Cypress Carpet, Bordered Beauty, Pale lemon Sallow as first for the year, also Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Heart & Dart, very dark Shuttle-shaped Darts. total moths all macro 182 with Setaceous Hebrew Character at 31 and Large Yellow Underwing 30. The Thorns have come in good numbers all the way through last night, Dusky 16 and Canary Shouldered 5.

This beautiful micro emerged today from a leaf mine collected from the Apple tree in the garden a few weeks ago.

332a Firethorn Leaf Miner (Phyllonorycter leucographella)

At the other end of the scale I also found three of these Eyed Hawk-moth larvae on the same tree.

I had 110 moths of 25 species last night. Highlights were 2 FFG species - Grey Pine Carpet and The Sallow (2). More than half of the trap was made up of Setaceous Hebrew Characters (16), Large Yellow Underwings (37) and Lunar Underwings (11). Also of interest were 2 pristine Heart and Dart and a Light Emerald and another Vestal, a much yellower one than two nights ago.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 14 degrees

170 moths of 31 species including FFY a Vestal.

Trapped at Netherclay from 19:30 - 01:00h. 94 moths of 23 species. A year ago I had 140 moths of 28 species and 67 of those were Snout but only 13 Snout caught last night. There was a hat-trick of Sallows: Pink-barred, Barred and Sallow and a handful of immigrants: Silver Y (1), Dark Sword-grass (2) and Pearly Underwing (1).

Somewhat cooler than 2 nights ago, but still a reasonably good night in terms of numbers, if not variety. 100 moths, but only 16 species, including one FFY - a Sallow.  Otherwise the bulk made up of Setaceous HC (24), and Lunar Underwings (30), with a couple of Canary-shouldered Thorns (very pretty), 1 Dusky Thorn, and 7 Black Rustics being the least drab.

I returned home last night after a fortnight away in Rome where about the only moths I saw were Vestals. I put the trap out on my return and the first two moths I saw this morning clinging to the outside were Vestals.

Paul's Vestal and a rather worn Orange Sallow are below.

Vestal from E Lydford

Orange Sallow worn example

Trapping here in Langport has been very poor - encroaching development and light pollution to the South and South-east of my garden are contributory factors. However there were 4 Rush Veneer in the trap on Monday morning (23rd).

Just finished rounding up this morning's strays.  Only 9 more, and no additional species. Still no news on the mystery moth (but John B thinks it may be a very plainly- marked (or almost unmarked) Orange Sallow (only one cross-line, and not much else).  We'll see - further expert opinion awaited.

60 moths of 14 species, a pretty paltry tally compared to some but not bad for my garden. Large Yellow Underwing (11), Lunar Underwing (14) and Light Brown Apple Moth (13) the most numerous; the others included two Light Emerald and single Copper Underwing, Dark Sword-grass & Treble Lines. Also a whole load of craneflies and a few wasps.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min temp 16 degrees

150 moths of 31 species including FFY Black Rustic, Pink-barred Sallow and a Pearly Underwing.

I agree with Paul about the warmer weather! Last night I had 135 moths of 22 species. Highlights were a Vestal (FFG) and two Black Rustics (FFY). Over half of the total was made up of two species - Large Yellow Underwing (44) and Lunar Yellow Underwing (24). I've never recorded the latter in such numbers. Otherwise some other interest in a few Frosted Oranges and Large Ranunculus.

What a difference a few more degrees of warmth makes !!  145 moths so far, of 28 species. Of this total, 70 were in the 12v actinic trap, and as I emptied this one first, I was actually expecting far more in the MV trap than actually were there, as normally the MV attracts many times more than the actinic.  Strange are the ways of moths, but maybe the bats prefer to hunt around a brighter light - who knows ?

There were a few FFY for a change - Black Rustic (3), Frosted Orange and Vestal, and one micro confirmed as Caloptilia semifascia (thanks to John B.) This is new for this site.  There is also a mystery which I'm hoping to clarify today.

I also ran my moth trap for the first time in few weeks. It was warm and muggy and there were quite a lot of moths about. I saw a few I hadn't seen before (this is my second autumn 'mothing') - Gem, Large Ranunculus and Sallow. Setacious Hebrew Characters were the most numerous (29). Among the moths were my first Black Rustics of the year and also what seems to be an unusually late Magpie. Also an Oak Nycteoline R. Clatworthy very kindly had identified a Goldenrod Pug for me a couple of months ago (I was cluelesss!) yesterday I spotted this caterpillar on some Goldenrod flowers. It seems simalar to some images I have seen on the internet and I am tempted to keep it to find out.

I ran the trap last night for the first time in two weeks. It didn't look too promising when the cloud cleared but I managed 63 moths of 15 species. FFY were Large Ranunculus and Lunar Underwing (8 of all colour variants). The only other species in any number were Light Brown Apple Moth (10), Common Marbled Carpet (6) and Large Yellow Underwing (21).

Cloudy night, T Min 10.6C. 38 moths of 14 species. Two Large Ranunculus and a Rush Veneer were FFG; also fresh-looking Black Rustic, Willow Beauty, Turnip Moth and Common Marbled Carpet.

Large Ranunculus

Very odd - a milder night, a bit of dampness in the air, (although a full moon doesn't help) so one might expect quite a few more moths.  Not so apparently - only 26 in total, and only 4 species.  Whereas 2 weeks ago I had over 70 Setaceous HCs, this time down to 6, and Lunar Underwings which hadn't then appeared, now 17.  I had been hoping that some of the other Autumn specialists might be appearing - I'm still waiting.

There were some extras though - a very dopey common wasp, an Ichneumon wasp, a couple of caddises, a cranefly, and some round black beetles - all very nice, but I would like some moths please.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 9 degrees

38 moths of 17 species with one first for the season, a Red-green Carpet. Our last was on May 20th.

The wet weather has prevented trapping for nearly a week, and I was so much out of the habit, that I put the traps out late !!  As a result, there were only 23 moths of 6 species, but these did include FFY Lunar Underwings (11) and a Cypress Carpet, first for 2 years.  When these do appear, they are almost always from the second generation, for some reason.  I have only ever had 2 summer brooders, in 2006 & 2007.  They must be out there, but seem reluctant to visit the traps.

Interesting micro from my last catch- there were 2 Prays ruficeps, Dark Ash Bud Moth, thanks to David for the ID.

It's getting worse! Five species again but this time only 13 moths: Large & Lesser Yellow Underwing, Lunar Underwing, Setaceous HC and a Silver Y.

Numbers also dropped here in Bath with the lower temperatures as well as the wind and rain. (I use a 12v Heath Trap when I think its going to rain) First Beaded Chestnut togeter with a few Lunar Underwings and the usual suspects including 49 Large Yellow Underwing.

I thought the forecasters said it was going to remain more or less dry - it bucketed it down from about 2 o'clock in a series of hefty showers !!  However, the traps stayed out and got thoroughly wet, and in spite of that there were 46 moths therein.  Only 10 species, and no new ones. 

Setaceous HC again accounted for the bulk of the total (27) - they really do seem to be having a very good year.  Still no sign yet of the Lunar Underwings, which I used to get a lot of, but have diminished considerably here in recent years - anyone else noticed this ?

T Min 8C. A whopping 22 moths of five species last night!! Pale Mottled Willow, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Large Yellow Underwing, Lunar Underwing & Light Brown Apple Moth.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min temp 15 degrees

Sept 12. Over 200 moths of 32 species including FFY - Brindled Green and a second brood Small Angle Shades.

Lots of fresh Light Emeralds here too, many rescued from the damp grass arrount the trap. 30 Macro sps and a few micros to process. First Vestal of the year, Otherwise Copper and Lunar UW, Gold Spot, Cabbage, Common Marbled carpets appeared, Blood Veins still about and a few Dusky Thorns. A FFG Pinion-streaked Snout was a surprise, thought it was a Crambid until i looked more closely.

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min temp 13 degrees

31 species including FFY - Cabbage Moth and Turnip Moth, also a second brood Light Emerald and flying in the garden today a Vapourer Moth.

Reasonable night, with 29 Species, First Lunar Underwing appeared along with Copper Underwing and more Dark Sword Grass.

Little to report from my two most recent trapping sessions:

7th Sept. T Min 8.5°C with some light rain and only nine moths of seven species.

9th Sept. T Min 11.5°C. 23 moths of 13 species including Light Emerald, Common Wainscot, Pale Mottled Willow, Flounced Rustic, Copper Underwing and Nutmeg.

Surprisingly high numbers for a chilly night - 120 moths (so far) but only 20 species, including 46 Setaceous HCs, and 37 Square-spot Rustics.  The only unusual one was a Brown China-mark, only my second record here, the other one being in 2006.

I had a Jersey Tiger trying to get into the living-room window this afternoon - presumably it had been nectaring on the flowers of Verbena bonariensis in the flower bed just outside, and fell in love with its own reflection !!  This is only my third record here, after 2009 & 2012.  It's still exciting, even though they're now quite common generally.

At the same time, there was a second-generation Small Blood-vein on the inside of the same window. I suspect that if I hadn't spotted the Tiger, I would almost certainly have missed this one, unless it flew up to a light this evening. One has to keep one's eyes peeled at all times apparently.

A further 32 moths which escaped this morning, making the total 172, species count up by 6 to 33. Nothing of great interest.

With overnight rain and seeing just a few moths on the wall by the trap i did not expect to much in the trap. with the sesonal moths in good numbers i also had 1 Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing, 5 Dark Sword-grass and 12 Pale Mottled Willow, i normally get one or two, Setaceous Hebrew Character being the highest total with 137, Gold Spot dropped to 8 they have been in the high teens.

The rain arrived here about 4.30 am, and I was disinclined to go out to retrieve the traps, so they had to get wet.  The end result was just over 140 moths, plus this evening's round-up, of 27 species only.  Of this total, 61 were Setaceous HCs, but only 8 Large Yellow Underwings - they are still only around here in small numbers this year. I suspect the bats enjoy them - after all they are meatier than your average midge !!

From Roger Lovegrove of Cam Valley Wildlife Group. A Jersey Tiger at the Cheddar Garden Centre on 22 August. I said I'd pass it on. Mike Bailey

Whitefield, Wiveliscombe - Min Temp 12 degrees

31 species including 116 LYUs and 108 Setaceous Hebrew Characters. Over the last week we have had a garden first a Heath Rustic (2). Thanks to James McGill for the ID. On Friday afternoon, just before the much warned about rain arrived, we had a welcome FFY nectaring in the garden- a Hummingbird Hawk moth.

T Min 11C. 39 moths of 18 species. Centre-barred Sallow FFY and Feathered Gothic FFG.

Feathered Gothic

A further 8 moths collected this evening, with 4 additional species.  FFY was Acleris forsskaleana, only the third record here.

Surprisingly different picture just a couple of miles from Paul, best night for a while, over 200 moths of 45 sps, Large YUWs seem to have suddenly appears-23, as have Common Wainscots-10 & 72 Set Heb.Chs and loads of Sq.Spot Rustic and Small Sq.Spot. 4 Heart & Dart reappeared. 2 Dark Sword-grass, and an interesting mix of others including- Figure of Eighty, Spectacle, Gold Spot, Chinese Character, Orange Swift, Angle Shades, Burnished Brass, August & Dusky Thorns, FFY Frosted Orange & Centre-barred Sallow.

Chilly & foggy, so numbers down a bit unsurprisingly.  Just under 100 moths, so far, of 25 species - almost half of the total were Setaceous Hebrew Characters and Square-spot Rustics. Both clearly having a good year.  There were only two FFY this time, a Small Dusty Wave, and my first Orange Sallow since 2009.  Also there were 4 Pale Eggars (normally I get only singletons here), and a rather late Heart & Dart.

I had the trap out last night and enjoyed a good haul this morning, highlights were: Red Underwing (1), Dark Sword Grass (1), Dusky Thorn (5), Setaceous Hebrew Character (31), Square Spot Rustic (21), Feathered Gothic (9), Centre Barred Sallow (4), Lesser Yellow Underwing (1) and Frosted Orange (1). We also had a Jersey Tiger flying by day in the garden yesterday, along with a Hummingbird Hawk Moth - there have been a few of the latter in the garden this year, but they've never stayed for long. As well as this we had a Heath Rustic at a lighted window - why do I even put the trap out?! Butterfly Wise, August was a great month, I enjoyed Clouded Yellows galore in a Clover field just 10 minutes walk from home (at least 20), managed to find a female Brown Hairstreak just down the road from me and had upwards of 30 small tortoiseshells in the garden most days! I also had a go at finding immature stages and now have lots of photos of small copper and common blue larvae and eggs - mostly taken in my garden!

2067 - Jersey Tiger

2452 - Red Underwing

2067 - Jersey Tiger

Just returned from a break on Exmoor where I ran traps at some of the high mire sites currently undergoing restoration work.  These appear to be very rarely recorded from, and whilst they are by no means species-rich, many of the species there do not make their way into gardens very often and some are rarely recorded in Somerset.

Most numerous species were Antler Moth (appropriately for Exmoor), Small Wainscot and Ear Moth agg.  Also consistently present on the sites were Autumnal Rustic, Northern Spinach and Haworth's Minor - the latter very infrequently recorded in Somerset and which appears to be confined to this habitat.  I found it on four mire sites, and also had a wanderer in the garden of the cottage we were staying at. 

Less frequent in the traps were Heath Rustic and Catoptria margaritella, two other species with not too many recent records from Somerset.

Some interesting things by day too, of which my favourites were the spectacularly cryptic larva of Beautiful Yellow Underwing at Dunkery Beacon, and a Jersey Tiger resting on a window-frame in Bossington, where Grayling and a remarkably late Large Skipper were on the wing.

Just returned from a break on Exmoor where I ran traps at some of the high mire sites currently undergoing restoration work.  These appear to be very rarely recorded from, and whilst they are by no means species-rich, many of the species there do not make their way into gardens very often and some are rarely recorded in Somerset.

Most numerous species were Antler Moth (appropriately for Exmoor), Small Wainscot and Ear Moth agg.  Also consistently present on the sites were Autumnal Rustic, Northern Spinach and Haworth's Minor - the latter very infrequently recorded in Somerset and which appears to be confined to this habitat.  I found it on four mire sites, and also had a wanderer in the garden of the cottage we were staying at. 

Less frequent in the traps were Heath Rustic and Catoptria margaritella, two other species with not too many recent records from Somerset.

Some interesting things by day too, of which my favourites were the spectacularly cryptic larva of Beautiful Yellow Underwing at Dunkery Beacon, and a Jersey Tiger resting on a window-frame in Bossington, where Grayling and a remarkably late Large Skipper were on the wing.

• Slowing down a bit here in Weston but hopeful for a pick-up next week.
• Last night I caught a Centre-barred Sallow that was only my second for the garden.
• Yesterday I collected some Rose leaves with mines for rearing fully expecting Stigmella anomalella to emerge but was surprised to see an adult Stigmella centifoliella in the pot this morning.
• On thursday 28th August I trapped my first ever Chevron at Sand Point

Stigmella centifoliella

Stigmella centifoliella leaf mine and pupal spinning

Chevron

It's been a busy week but I managed to put the trap out on on Sunday Wednesday and Friday nights. I haven't been getting the numbers some people have but still managed record numbers of Flame Shoulder (32) and Brimstone (23). FFG were Feathered Gothic and Toadflax Pug. FFY were Canary-shouldered and Lunar Thorns, Common Wainscot, Orange Swift, Frosted Orange and Dark Marbled Carpet. Also of interest were 2nd generation Poplar Hawk Moth (1) and Burnished Brass (2).

On Friday morning I popped over the border down to the Axe Valley Wetlands near Seaton, where they have run a couple of moth breakfasts this summer. Highlights were Bulrush and Webb's Wainscot and Saltern Ear. It was a good opportunity to see some wetland species. East Devon Council are to be commended for their work here.