Nearing the end.. of June....

So, we are here, 28th June. 2 days time, June will be ending, and July will be starting. It's been an odd month, on the 16th I noted several Bluebells! Bluebells in mid-June!?!

Anyhow, best news of the last couple of weeks was a new for garden moth, in the form of Paracorsia repandalis, which for those who know their moths, is a kind of rarity. This is the 5th UK record (so I've been told, and it was confirmed by various people who are very reliable), so a pleasing moth for me. This was caught last Wednesday night, but only confirmed on the weekend (P. repandalis was my initial thought). Also from Wednesday night was a Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, a local rarity and new for garden. 2 new for gardens on Wednesday night this week, Common Wave and Callisto denticulella, which are both fairly common, but the latter has few Dorset records.

P. repandalis, 5th UK Record

 

Also in the garden in recent nights have been more Lime Hawk-moths, bringing the year total to 4, so are the most frequent garden hawk, which Is very odd. Current hawk statistics are as follows:

Elephant Hawk-moth: Usually the most common hawk, 2 so far this year, numbers in most years can reach above 10 per night.
Small Elephant Hawk-moth: Rare in garden, with 1 or 2 recorded in most years. 1 so far.
Eyed Hawk-moth: Usually 5 or 6 per year, none so far this year.
Poplar Hawk-moth: Usually about 10 per year, 2 so far.
Privet Hawk-moth: Usually about 10 per year, 2 so far.
Lime Hawk-moth: 1 record in 2012. 4 in 2013.