30/12/18 - the year ended as it began, with a "nil return" Never mind, eh ?

Happy Nooyear to all, and good mothing !!

No trapping here for some weeks but I found a FFY Winter Moth on the house this morning. It brings this year's species list to a disappointing 222.

I had no intention of trapping again this year but last nights' conditions were so good I decided to give it a go. Hardly worth it as only a Winter Moth and a Silver Y were recorded.

Adult Winter moths still emerging here from larvae reared in captivity - a couple of males yesterday.  I have had 4 males and 1 female emerge this winter.  I appreciate this isn't a representative sample, but is this a species with odd sex ratios?

Nice to find mines of this scarce species today, on holm oak in the parkland at Montacute House.  Also Ectoedemia septembrella and Phyllonorycter messaniella.

28/12/18 - just one moth in the traps last night, an extremely early male Early Moth.  The earliest of my previous records was 27th.January, and if the bar chart on the website distribution map is right, this may well be the first December record in the County for this species.

26/12/18 - jUst a handful of Winter Moths last night, more (4) on the kitchen window than (2) in the traps.  Nothing else.  Boring !!

23/12/18 - 8 Winter Moths on the kitchen window last night, and I think they may be getting seasonal goodwill, as there were actually four on the same pane (admittedly not very close to each other, but it's a start).

Happy Xmas to all my readers (all 3 of you!) and a healthy New Year.

Yesterday I found an early instar Scarce Bordered Straw larva in a lettuce of Spanish origin. Hopefully I'll be able to rear it through.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year one and all.

21/12/18 - well, I tried !  A milder night + little wind + (unfortunately) a full moon = high hopes.  Result?  zero moths.  Heigh ho.

She emerged from the pupa today.  Within 40 minutes of being placed in the hedgerow, she had attracted a mate.

An example of Phyllonorycter messaniella on the wing this morning - my second garden record the first being 22.10.2015.

Brown Tails are quite an unusual moth here in South Somerset. I have recorded one or two for the last three summers but failed to record it in the previous 7 years.
This spring I thought I saw a couple of nests on the A303 about 2 miles west of South Petherton but identification whilst driving is always tricky. They would have been the first nests I've seen around here. As the leaves have disappeared this autumn it has revealed at least 100 nests on both sides of a short stretch of road. There is no pedestrian access here and lots of invasive bramble and blackthorn for the caterpillars to feed on so hopefully they will be undisturbed. It makes the journey to work more interesting and I look forward to seeing how they get on next summer.

11/12/18 - still not a lot to report, just 6 moths last night, 4 December Moths, 1 Winter Moth and 1 FFY Mottled Umber.  All males of course.

9/12/18 - Just 2 moths last night, both in the MV trap, a Winter Moth and a very fresh Satellite. The last Satellite I caught (in November) looked quite tatty, and worn almost to the point of difficulty in identifying it, this one perfect.

A good night with 22 moths of 7 species including a record 6 December Moths, a record 6 Winter Moths and a record 6 Mottled Umber (FFY) plus my latest recorded Silver Y.

At last a chance to trap, after a three week wait for the wind to drop!  36 moths of 11 species. Two FFY : Cypress Carpet (1) and Winter Moth (2). December Moths made up just over half of the catch (19) , Others were : Agonopterix arenella (1) ; Spruce Carpet (1) ; Red-green Carpet (6) ; Scarce Umber (1) ; Mottled Umber (1) ; Yellow-line Quaker (2) ; Chestnut (1) and Satellite (1).

A Winter Moth and 2 Mottled Umbers brought my annual tally up to a record equalling 292 macro species for the year. However I cannot think of any more species that are likely except perhaps Scarce Umber (very unusual here) or one of the White Specks that are still visiting the coast.

Just one Diamond-back Moth and two Chestnut here.

Another bunch of separatist Winter Moths on the kitchen windows last night, this time 7 scattered over 6 panes, and even the two that were sharing were keeping their distance.  Accompanying them this time was a FFY Common Plume.  Again, the traps were far less productive than the kitchen, with just 3 Winter Moths and 1 December Moth.  These few were attended by some gnats, dung flies, and a caddis, but considering the mildness of the weather and the small amount of moonlight, very disappointing.

3/12/18 - After the "excitement" of the 5 Winter Moths last evening, the traps produced a solitary December Moth, that's all.  Maybe they all got too cold, and went home to their duvets.

My first ever record of a Common Marbled Carpet in December, 5 December Moths, a Red Green Carpet and a Silver Y last night.

I have 5 male Winter Moths currently on my kitchen windows, doing their usual territorial thing with each one on a separate pane.  They don't seem to like sharing.  When I lived here a few years ago, I had different windows, with more panes, and I have had as many as a dozen or so, doing the same thing.  I wonder why?

P.S.  And here's another thing - when I switched off the fluorescent light, but left a normal light-bulb on, they all flew off, quite soon if not immediately.  Nowt so queer as moths.

A mild night so gave it a go. 18 December Moths, 2 Winter Moths, 2 Mottled Umber, a Feathered Thorn, Silver Y and LBAM....not bad!