Another productive couple of hours seeking out micro-moth early stages at Netherclay LNR today included Tischeria dodonaea, Parornix scoticella, Ectoedemia albifasciella & Phyllonorycter trifasciella.

Tischeria dodonaea

Parornix scoticella

Parornix scoticella

17 moths of 7 species. Two FFY : Feathered Thorn (1) and Merveille du Jour (1). Others were : Spruce Carpet (2) ; Yellow-line Quaker (10) ; Chestnut (1) ; Black Rustic (1) and Turnip Moth (1).

29/10/19 - cold and windy, so only 9 moths last night - 4 Black Rustics, 3 Beaded Chestnuts, 1 each Red-line Quaker and a late Large YU.

A Psyche casta case found on Field Maple today:

26/10/19 - just 13 moths, 7 species last night, 5 Black Rustics, 2 each Yellow-line Quaker & Green-brindled Crescent, 1 each Beaded Chestnut, Blair's Shoulder-knot, Centre-barred Sallow and Feathered Thorn.  Must have been too cold for the rest of them.

Still not had a single micro this month to date and only 5 micro species last month.  Where are they?

I ran one trap at Netherclay until shortly after midnight. 74 moths of 16 species: Ypsolopha ustella, Blastobasis lacticolella, Acleris rhombana, Common Marbled Carpet, Straw Dot, Green-brindled Crescent, Angle Shades, Barred Sallow, Beaded Chestnut, Red-line Quaker, Brick, Lunar Underwing, Dark Chestnut, Square-spot Rustic, Setaceous Hebrew Character and 41 November Moth agg.

Ypsolopha ustella was an addition to the site list whilst Straw Dot was something of a surprise – my previous latest being 7/10/2016 also at Netherclay.

I have trapped many times over the past week or so, often partial nights because of the persistent poor weather. Numbers have been around 60% down on the last 5 years but I have managed to record: Blair's Shoulder-knot (2), Green-brindled Crescent (2), Red-green Carpet, November Moth agg. (5), Chestnut, Dark Chestnut, Red-line Quaker. Only 2 Black Rustics recorded here in six sessions and a solitary Silver Y being the only sign of migrant activity.

24/10/19 - another quiet night - 24 moths of 8 species, including FFY Chestnut and Feathered Thorn.  Black Rustics (9) and November agg (6) the main contributors again.

Thanks for the comments, Nigel. It's definitely my first record, though, and the other records are all a fair distance away.

Ian,

Unfortunately, as has been previously noted here, the accuracy of the website maps cannot be relied upon.

I am aware of two Oak Rustic records that are not shown on the map:

Burnham-on-Sea 13.10.2018 (A. Slade) and Weston-super-Mare 4.11.2018 (D. Gibbs).

Unwisely I ran the trap 2 nights ago when it was clear and cold and only recorded three moths. What a difference a day makes as, despite the rain, last night produced 123 macros and 22 species. Setacious Hebrew Characters were out in force and 49 of them along with 19 Black Rustics made up the majority of the moths. 4 Yellow-line Quakers and a Grey Pine Carpet were firsts for the year. Others of interest were a Delicate and 2 Merveille de Jours. However the highlight was my first and, according to the distribution maps, Somerset's third Oak Rustic. Mine has a white kidney-mark rather than the normal orange and I'm assuming is not from around here as I am unaware of any Evergreen Oak growing nearby.

22/10/19 - Another quiet night, 19 moths, 8 species.  No FFY, but a Dark Chestnut the first of this Autmn (I had a couple at the beginning if the year).  Black Rustics (6) the largest contributors again, and November Moth agg (5) doing well too.

The met office gave a perfect forecast for Sunday night for the south of the county. It was the first dry night here for a while and resulted in 57 moths of 15 species. Black Rustics were most numerous with 30 whilst Feathered Thorn and Red -line Quaker were firsts for the year.
A pink streaked Vestal and a Turnip Moth were the only signs of migration.

FAKE NOOS !!!

Steve - I didn't see it myself in the business pages but I believe the met office have been taken over by the RNIB.  A couple of soggy traps here too but still 35 moths showed up. One FFY : Red-line Quaker (1).  Others were : Spruce Carpet (1) ; Red-green Carpet (4) ; Common Marbled Carpet (2) ; November Moth agg. (3) ; Green-brindled crescent (1) ; Barred Sallow (1) ; Beaded Chestnut (4) ; Yellow-line Quaker (9) ; Lunar Underwing (3) ; Black Rustic (4) and LYU (1).

Forecast - Cloudy skies, 10C and no rain. Actual - Skies cleared before i went to sleep but sometime during the night it rained heavily and it was clear skies and a cold morning.

26 moths 12 species L-album wainscot(latest i have had this by over 2 weeks) Sallow(2) Barred sallow. Green brindled crescent, Merville de Jour (2nd record, first 2015).Silver y, Feathered ranunculus, Yellow line quaker, Beaded chestnut(6).Common marbled carpet (3) and November moth agg.(5)

18/10/19 - just 13 moths last night, of 6 species, including one UFO to be checked out. Black Rustics (5) still the major players.

7.00 pm - UFO turned out to be a FFG Brindled Green - a bit late and a bit faded, so harder to ID !

16/10/19 - another quiet night, not a surprise with the 3/4 moon and low temperature.  16 moths, 9 species, no FFY, but a second Delicate of the season.  Black Rustics (6) the largest number again.

17 moths of 10 species. Not sure that the fullish moon was to blame, I suspect many have drowned in the monsoons.  Only one FFY : Green- brindled Crescent (1). Others were : LBAM (1) ; Spruce Carpet (1) ; Red-green Carpet (1) ; Common Marbled Carpet (2) ; Silver-Y (1) ; Beaded Chestnut (1) ; Yellow-line Quaker (5) ; Chestnut (1) and Black Rustic (1).  A micro trapped on 29 Sept. has been confirmed by dissection as Argyresthia semitestacella - a somerset rarity. Many thanks to Paul Wilkins for wielding the scalpel.

It stayed clear for much of the night with the result that I had just 10 moths of 10 species. They were Tachystola acroxantha, Clepsis consimilana, Light Brown Apple Moth, Eudonia angustea, Red-green Carpet (FFY), November Moth agg. (FFY), Setaceous Hebrew Character, Beaded Chestnut, Lunar Underwing and Silver Y.

I'm trying to avoid looking at all of the reports mentioning Clifden Nonpareil!

Yabba Dabba Doo!

14 moths of 11 species including FFG Clifden Nonpareil. The others: Light Brown Apple Moth, Common Marbled Carpet, Silver Y, Green-brindled Crescent, Angle Shades, Beaded Chestnut, Merveille du Jour, Black Rustic, Turnip Moth and Large Yellow Underwing.

13/10/19 - only 14 moths of 5 species last night, all in the MV trap.  Black Rustics (8) the most, and 2 FFYs - Green-brindled Crescent (2) and November Moth agg.(2).  The full moon has a lot to answer for.

Not a bad night, 54 moths of 12sp, Beaded Chestnut and Black Rustic by far the most plentiful. FFY a pristine Merveille du Jour, Green-brindled Crescent. Also Barred Sallow, Spruce Carpet, Angle Shades, Silver Y and 2 Rusty-dot Pearl.

Despite all the rain there was a reasonable catch last night with Clifden Nonpareil clearly the highlight. This is the third year in a row I have recorded it and must surely be breeding locally.

8/10/19 - cold with rain later in the night/early this morning kept the numbers down again - just 36 moths of 8 species, nothing new.  Black Rustics (16) still going strong.

Having been unable to trap for a few weeks due to weather and time away, I thought the forecast for last night offered a decent opportunity. Unfortunately the night produced just 16 moths of 9 species. Nonetheless there were four FFY - Black Rustic, The Chestnut, Beaded Chestnut (2) and Dark Chestnut.

I trapped in a Kingston-St-Mary garden until 01:00h this morning. 83 moths of 26 species including Deep-brown Dart, Mallow, Pine Carpet, Cypress Carpet, Light Emerald, Burnished Brass, Barred Sallow, Common Plume, Coptotriche marginea, Tachystola acroxantha, Acleris sparsana and Acleris rhombana. Beaded Chestnut (19), Black Rustic (16) and Lunar Underwing (13) were the most numerous.

6/10/19 - 48 moths, of which 26 were Black Rustics.  Only 8 species.  a Late Rosy Rustic really the only one of interest.

The MV lamp blew at s0me time during the night but still well over 100 moths in the trap - Lunar Underwing and Black Rustic (like Paul, I have had large numbers this year - max 30 on 2nd October). A nice surprise under the last egg box I looked at - my third Clifden Nonpareil of the year.

Clifden Nonpareil Catocala fraxini - Langport 4 October 2019

A Scarce Bordered Straw last night was my first migrant for some time. Other moths of interest in a reasonable catch were my first Pink Barred Sallow for two years and out of season singles of both Dingy Footman and Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing.

Merveille du Jour, Beaded Chestnut (4) and Mallow were all FFY. Lunar Underwing was the most numerous with 29 out of a total of 72 moths.

I have been shown a photo of a Desert Locust seen in Castle Cary this morning.  Presumably this has come in on the strong southerly winds from Hurricane Lorenzo.  I must confess that I have never seen one in the flesh before (but then I don't get out much), On the whole, I think our gardens are quite safe, but I suppose if many more are found, who knows?

2/10/19 - quite cold last night, so very few moths.  Just 25 in total, of 10 species, including FFY Brick(2), Merveille du Jour and Blair's Shoulder-knot.  Black Rustics (9) the most numerous again.