The Rest of the Targets?

So I currently have 20 target species to see, and have managed 13 of them. I'm pretty sure I've failed two of them sadly, and possibly a third as well.

So, the targets are as follows.

1. Oak Beauty - Trapped garden 5th March
2. Mottled Grey - Netted N Dorset 29th March
3. Pachyrhabda steropodes - By day Abbotsbury Gardens 17th April
4. Capperia britanniodactyla - By day Hardy's Monument 17th June
5. Beautiful Snout - By day Hardy's Monument 22nd June
6. Reed Leopard - Trapped Morden Bog 11th July
7. Dingy Mocha - Trapped Morden Bog 11th July
8. Monochroa suffusella - Trapped Morden Bog 11th July
9. Emperor Moth - FAILED
10. Scythris siccella FAILED
11. Festoon - Trapped Morden Bog 11th July
12. Round-winged Muslin - Trapped Morden Bog 11th July
13. Chevron - Trapped Morden Bog 11th July
14. Beech-green Carpet - By day Portland W Cliffs 15th July
15. Helcystogramma lutatella - Portland Bird Obs 21st July
16. Hedge Rustic - Hopefully one will turn up in the garden
17. Lappet - Failed??
18. Clifden Nonpareil - Think I have 3 shots at this one.
19. Rosy Underwing - I think I have one shot for this one, will be toughy, and I'm likely to fail
20. Merveille du Jour - Hopefully one will turn up in the garden, if not, hopefully when I'm looking for Clifden/Rosys.

So yeah, I'm optimistic! :/

Moth Targets No. 6, 7 & 8. & Also 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15! Monthly overview. Rapidfire Targets!

So last month (July), I managed several new species, of which 3 were of the original target species, and, considering I have almost certainly failed the other 2 species (both Spring species), I decided to move on to my next 10 species, of which I managed 5 last month.

So let's start at the start of last month. What was nice was several Gold Swifts at my local patch, a wonderful little moth. A colourful little heathland species, sadly a few of his scales fell off in the pot, but still a wonderful moth.

Male Gold Swift - Potted out & about

The next moth would have been next year's target, had I not managed it this year. It is the rather nice Small Emerald. Feeding on Clematis, I had several in the new garden. Probably to replace it next year will be either Large or Blotched Emerald, both species I've not seen yet. (Grr!)

Small Emerald - Garden Trap

Now we're getting onto the target species. On the 11th July I trapped at Morden Bog nature reserve in East Dorset, which is where I managed to get the majority of this years targets.
The main target species of the night was Reed Leopard, and indeed, Reed Leopard was what we got! I had tried for it last year at the same site, but sadly failed, (but still managed a good few species), but this year, we tried in a different spot, and that proved successful with 2 of them turning up.

Reed Leopard - Morden Bog

So the other 2 "main" target species were also trapped that night, being the notable Monochroa suffusella, a small micro which feeds on (in?) cottongrass, and is classed as a proposed RDB species, and also the Dingy Mocha, which is also a RDB species which feeds on Sallow.
Not likely to get my 9th target species now, I gave up, and moved on to my second & final bunch of targets for this year. Of which, a large bunch were "ticked" off at Morden Bog.
Firstly (or rather, No. 11) was the notable Festoon, which also means I have seen representatives or all Britain's resident macro moth families.

Festoon - Morden Bog

No. 12 was extremely common that night, in fact, it was the second most common species (after True Lover's Knot, which almost reached 200 individuals!), and is one of the footman which I have been missing for a while. It was the bog species which is Round-winged Muslin. We managed a total of 90 in the traps, and despite being one of the duller footmen, was very pleasing (for me, at least).
The last target species (No.13) produced that night was the Chevron, a rather nice "Northern Spinach-like" moth, found mostly on heaths in Dorset. I have since found it on my local patch on an evening walk.

There were several other species which were equally nice, including Dotted Border Wave, Rosy Wave, Purple-bordered Gold, Silver Hook (NFR), Marsh Oblique-barred (NFR), Lesser Cream Wave (NFR), Beautiful Brocade (NFR), Sharp-angled Carpet (NFR), Dark Tussock (NFR), and on the micro front, Elachista serricornis (NFR) Dioryctria sylvestrella, Chilo phragmitella (NFR), Endothenia ericetana (NFR), Pempelia genistella (NFR), Donacaula mucronellus & D. forficella (NFR).

Rosy Wave - Morden Bog

Dark Tussock - Morden Bog

During the next week, I decided to try to get my next target species, and on the 15th I decided to head on over to Portland. I had two species in mind which I wanted to see, but only one was a year target.
And, within the first 1/2 hour I managed to find both, the Portland geometrid which is the Portland Ribbon Wave, which I have seen once before, when it turned up in the garden, and Target No. 14, the Beech-green Carpet, which is a true lovely moth. If you have never seen this species, do try to! I also managed 2 new micro species, which was nice.

And so, target species No. 15 was managed the following week, when we had a thunderstorm (though that did not really lead to that species turning up, just me coming into contact with that species).
I was a bit foolish and didn't run a trap, but Portland did, and they got a pretty decent haul, including a rather nice macro, which was new for mainland UK, the Southern Grass Emerald (or, if you use Leraut's guides, Bright Emerald), so, I had to go & see it. It took me two days to finally get out there, and the moth total when I got there contained 12 new species, 6 macros & 6 micros. The macros were as follows: Southern Grass Emerald, Dark Crimson Underwing, Sub-angled Wave, Splendid Brocade, Clouded Magpie & Wormwood. The first 5 were immigrants from the continent, but the latter is a rather nice resident species. While I wasn't willing to photograph the geometrids out of pots (as they'd likely bugger off), I decided to put the noctuids on a rock, and due to Sod's Law, they decided to start wing warming.. All except the Dark Crimson Underwing, which decided to up & go! (Thankfully the doors were shut!).
And the 6 new micros were Monochroa palustrella, Pediasia aridella, Anerastia lotella, Vine Moth, Oidaematophorus lithodactyla (rock finger??) & the target species, which was Helcystogramma lutatella.

Southern Grass (or Bright) Emerald - Portland Bird Obs

 

Dark Crimson Underwing - Portland Bird Obs

I didn't do much more mothing (other than garden trapping) until the very end of the month, as on the 29th I got down to Alners Gorse in north Dorset, where I had the largest number of species I have ever managed in one night. A total of 176 species (of adults that is) was produced, from netting, trapping & sugaring.
There were 6 new species, 5 micros and one macro, which was the Small Scallop. Also were several species which I've only seen on the odd occasion before, such as Old Lady (a very nice moth), Bulrush Wainscot, Lunar-spotted Pinion, Mocha, Double Kidney, & Olive (the last 3 I have only seen at Alners Gorse).

Lunar-spotted Pinion - Alners Gorse

Bulrush Wainscot - Alners Gorse

Small Scallop - Alners Gorse

Thus the month ended well, having seen 82 species which were new for me, which, all in all, is pretty decent for a 4th year mothing. I also managed several species which are very common, which have avoided me for the last 3 years, which were Common Lutestring, Double Square-spot & Purple Bar.

Moth Target No.4 & No.5: Two Different Species, Two Different Days, One Site (Half way there)

Been a little while, but finally passed my 800th moth species (this is my 4th year). Not only that, but no. 800 was also a target for this year!

So I managed species number 800 last week on the 17th June, but leading up to it also managed to add a bunch of species. On the 14th June I was on species 792, but a walk on the 15th near my house produced a new for me species in the form of Cosmiotes consortella, which is a very small micro, and didn't stop (it was identified by someone else who I wafted it in front off).
Then the trap that night produced a further 5 new species. As I am in a new house, there are decent numbers of species which are new for me in the trap, for example, before this year I hadn't had Scorched Wing or Green Arches, of which I have had several this year.
Anyway, on the night of the 15th I had 5 new species, of which one had to have the chop (and was Ectoedemia albifasciella, and oak feeder (which is odd, as there isn't masses of Oak near me?), the Larch Case-bearer (Coleophora laricella), which is rather plain, but again, new (probably as I always use to ignore coleophorids. The gelechiid Metzneria lappella, which I was particularly pleased with, as Gelechiids are my favourite family of micros. And then there were two new macro species, which were the long overdue Pale-shouldered Brocade, and the nationally scarce Valerian Pug.
Moth number 799 was another gelechiid, Bryotropha senectella, the following day, before number 800 the day after that (which I shall come to in a minute).
Moth species number 801 was another macro, and was a Poplar Kitten. I was quite surprised that I managed to spot this, as I saw it, and my first thought was "it's about time I've had a Sallow Kitten", before thinking, "That doesn't look right!"
Moth number 802 was the very common tortix called Eupoecilia angustana, which I have seen at several locations pretty much every day since.
Number 803-806 were from a moth trapping event at Portland this morning. Sadly, I had work, so I could only stay for half an hour, which was about half a trap, but the new species were Metzneria metzneriella (actually, that one I netted last night), Slender Pug, the very snazzy looking Ethmia dodecea and the nationally scarce Euzophera cinerosella. I have yet to hear whether any of the moths in the other trap/other half of trap I got through were new for me)
Number 807 was brought to the event by another moth-er, and was the nationally scarce Small Black Arches! A very well marked moth, and not small when compared to Least Black Arches1

Poplar Kitten

So that leaves us with moths species 800 and 808, and both species were from the same site, and that site is effectively my new local patch, with me visiting there every other day.
The site is the area around Hardy's Monument, which is dry heathland on gravels and sands (Tertiary I think), with trees being mostly Beech & Sycamore, but the occasional Silver Birch or Hawthorn.
Birding there has produced Nightjar and Hobby, both of which were pleasing, and mammals include Badgers, Foxes, Roe Deer (and of course, bunnies!).
So let's start with moth species 808 and target No. 5. That one was today. I was wondering about, releasing the freshest Grass Emerald I've ever seen (I potted it there a couple of days back). There were several Ancylis-looking micros flying about amongst the Celypha lacunana, which I have since identified as Holly Tortrix (I didn't think this as there wasn't much Holly about, but apparently they feed on Bilberry which solves that problem), I disturbed a couple of Bramble Shoot Moth, and I also managed to pot the tiny coleophorid Coleophora juncicolella (which I am impressed that I managed to spot it flying, find it once it had landed, and potted). I disturbed a large moth from the bracken (this was the first of several I disturbed, I would soon disturb a pug and another geometrid, but both would fly off to never be seen again!). It flew a short distance before landing.
I presumed it was a Common Marbled Carpet or something until it landed, at which I knew instantly what it was, and that it was new for me. It was a Beautiful Snout. And it's name did it justice. I approached it subtly, but it flew off and over the bracken. But I hadn't given up, and where it was, was between two paths, separated by a small hill covered in bracken. I quickly ran back to the point where the two paths joined and ran along the lower path, and gave a poke to the bracken bushes I passed. No luck, next I gave an ash a poke. And it flew off, landing on a bramble a few meters up the hill. Almost impossible to reach. As I got "distracted" by a horse fly (who is no longer with us..) I looked up, but had lost the moth. So, as always, I gave the bush a poke, and off it flew. Up this time, so again I ran back to the point where the two paths merge, and ran up. I disturbed it again, and it landed on some Bilberry not far in front of me at all, I prepared my pot, snuck up on it.. And got it! (thankfully). I shall take photos of it on the morning, so have a pot shot for now.

Beautiful Snout

Now for number 800, the target species No. 4, and one which I was completely surprised to see. Weirdly, I did see another one today when I was chasing the snout.
So there I was last week (where the common moth was Cydia ulicetana and not Holly Tortrix) to collect some heather for the caterpillar I'm currently rearing. Anyway, I'd yet to have any exciting moths. And there, flew out in front of me was a plume moth. Now I've only seen 7 species of plume moths, of which Emmelina monodactyla is very distinct, and this wasn't it, Stenoptilia pterodactyla looked completely different, and this was the wrong habitat, it wasn't either of Amblyptilia acanthadactyla or A. punctidactyla, and again, it was definitely not White Plume moth, or Marasmarcha lunaedactyla or Platyptilia pallidactyla, which meant it was new.

I had my suspect, which was the nationally scarce plume moth Capperia britanniodactyla, which feeds on Wood Sage (which I later found in high numbers). Not only is it nationally scarce, but this one was new for site.

Failing a Target: Sometimes you must admit defeat

No pictures in this one, I'm afraid, as the target species has, in no doubt, failed.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I've failed on two species here, but I still have the chance to find the larvae of one species, so I shall not mention that one yet.

So, the failed species was a micro, known as Sycthris siccella, known only from Chesil Beach. The larval tubes can be found in April & May, while the adults can be found in May & June. While we do still have some time in June left, I highly doubt I shall get the chance to have a fourth shot at trying to find this species.
So yes, I have tried (only) 3 times for this species this year, always failing, finding larvae of other species, plus adults of more other moths, but no S. siccella.


Anyhow, on a not-moth topic, I had a good evening last night.
I went out to get some caterpillar food for some of my heathland species at Hardys Monument, it was about half 9, and so, undoubtedly got distracted by moths, sadly, I had no net, and only had 4 pots, so my success in catching moths was low, but as I was flailing about, I heard a churring.

Any churring at night (or dusk) is almost certainly a Nightjar, as this one was. Sadly, he was quite far away, and out of sight for me.

Anyway, I kept walking, getting distracted by Brown Silver-line and Grey Pug, then I heard the churring again. I took a few steps back, and there, 100m or so away, was a Nightjar. My first actual sighting of one (I've only heard them before).
As I was watching them, bats starting flying around me, my ears slightly picking up on some of their calls, and then I heard a rustling under a tree about 10m down the path. I presumed it was a Roe Deer, as I'd already seen 5, so I gave it no notice and carried on watching the nightjar.
As the nightjar finished it's song and flew off, I decided to head on down the path. The rustling was still there, so I coughed, so not to spook the deer. It seemed to pay no notice, and carried on rustling.
I shined my torch in the direction, and two my surprise say two Badgers rooting around.
I don't really know why I'm that surprised, but it was nice to see, and spent a further 5 minutes or so watching them snuffling in the bush, before crossing the path in front of me and wandering into the forest.

Almost a Target

There are several species which would have made it onto my target species next year, but didn't as they were found this year. Last year, one such species was Scalloped Hazel, but I did see one last June (just the one (incidentally, I have had several this year)), and one of these happened a week or two back.

So when I say target species, I mean 10 specific species, which I plan at the start of the year, and try to find throughout the year. That said, there are some species, which I go out to find, with them being a target species for the day, but not one of the year species. So here's the story of that "Almost Target" Species.

Of the resident Hawk-moth species, most are common, but two are more localised. Not only that, but unlike the other resident hawk-moth species, they do not fly at night, meaning that there can be no trapping sessions for them. They are the two Bee Hawk-moth species.
I have been keen to see one of the Bee Hawks for a little while now, so for bank holiday Monday, I decided it was time to find one.
It has not been very good mothing weather for most of April and May so far (only the last few nights have been good), and as I turned up at Powerstock Common, the winds were picking up and the sun was hidden by clouds. I was hoping that, like butterflies, the bee hawks would still be flying about despite the wind.
Anyway, I wondered onto the old railway line, and kept an eye out for moths, scanning every Bugle flower for the moth. The first moth to turn up was a Nettle-tap, not new for year, and a common day-flying moth. The next moth was a Pyrausta species, but alas, it got away before I could pot or ID it.
The first macro moth of the day was the dull form of Small Purple-barred, the first I've seen of this form, and I've only seen the moth on two occasions before. Then next thing on the wing wasn't a moth, but a butterfly, a Dingy Skipper, the first of which I had seen not far from my house the day before, and shortly after that a Red Twin-spot Carpet & Dichrorampha acuminatana turned up.
Wandering around, I noticed some plants which I'd never seen before, which looked a lot like orchids. A quick look in the book confirmed they were in the same family, and were Common Twayblade.

Pre-flowering Common Twayblade.

As I neared the edge of the railway, a sneaky look under a metal sheet produced a Common Shrew, not a moth, but a welcome site. I had almost given up all hope, but they a large bee flew in front of me.
And, you've guessed it! It was a bee.. No such luck here, it actually took a further five minutes or so before I actually managed to find one. My camera was turned off with the lens cap on, so I didn't manage a photo, but it definitely was one, a Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth.
Now, that just leaves one resident hawk-moth now, the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth. Bring it on!

Walking around the rest of the walk produced little of great note, but some nice things. One Roe Deer did turn up, and a Buzzard and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were the only birds of note. Despite the poor weather, on the insect front I managed to find the longhorn beetle Rhagium mordax on a small tree, and the leafhopper Cercopis vulnerata. Plants include Common Spotted Orchid and a Primrose-Cowslip hybrid (that one confused a person who knows little on botany!).

Rhagium mordax

Here, have a cygnet:

 

That one was cute, but there's not really a story to tell with it.

So this week I had a couple of hours to kill, so I wondered down to Chesil Beach, to see what I could find on the moth front. It was sunny, but quite windy sadly, so no Cinnabars or Mother Shiptons on the wing. The only adult moth species I could find were Elachista argentella, which there were quite a few of, and on the caterpillar front were 5 Garden Tigers and a single Six-spot Burnet.

Garden Tiger cat.

The real prize was on the beach, where 15 Barrel Jellyfish were washed up on the strandline waiting for me. Sadly I was nearing the end of my 2 hours, so could only manage to photograph a couple before leaving, I would have liked to look for a living one in the sea, but alas, I didn't manage this.

Barrel Jelly

Also, is it me or were Swifts late this year, only the last couple of days have I seen them and heard their "screams" in the evening. That said, Swallows and House Martins appear to be in smaller numbers than usual, hopefully they will arrive all in due time.

Now, only the last two nights have I run my traps. Two nights back I ran my MV in the garden, and produced over 30 species, of which many were new for year, including Scalloped Hazel, Buff-tip and Mullein. Netting the same evening produced more species, including a Galium Carpet, and Tinea semifulvella, which was new for me.
Last night I ran my MV at work, and my Actinic at home. The actinic produced 20 species, with 3 species being new for year, my favourite being a Puss Moth, which has always been one of my favourite species of moth (after Angle Shades and several others).

Puss Moth

The trap at work produced just under 30 species, though far greater numbers that I had at home the night before, though the majority of moths were Clouded Border, of which 24 turned up. Again, several species new for year, and of note, including Sandy Carpet, of which I've only seen once before, on the coast path in Devon, Tawny Shears, which I've seen once on Chesil Beach and once in the old garden, but the real highlights of the night were the new for me species, of which there were two. They were the micro Epinotia subocellana, which is a rare moth in Dorset, and 2 Light Feathered Rustic, the nationally scarce noctuid.

Light Feathered Rustic

Target No. 3: Little Target

I only had one moth on my targets which is an alien, and that target was also a micro. It is currently known from 2 Subtropical Gardens in the UK, and one of them is just up the round from where I live, so it made it onto my targets for this year.

With most of my targets being macros, all my (current - if I find my 10 species before the year is up, I shall add some more targets) micro targets had to be found on day-time searches.

So the day before my target species was found I did a walk. It should have taken me a couple of hours, but as I did some fossiling, it took me slightly longer. It was a walk up the Fleet Lagoon. The sun was shining, and it was very hot.

The walk started with a Green-winged Orchid in some grass just off the path, which was nice, and the first I've seen this year. I'm no expert on plants, I must admit, but I presume this is a plant of coastal grassland (or maybe certain grasslands), as I've seen it before at Durlston Head at this time a few years back.

Green-winged Orchid - Fleet

 

 

So as I did an hour or so fossiling at Tidmoor point, I found several fossils, such as a shark tooth (not that common there), and the start-shaped crinoid Penticrinites, along with the usual ammonites, belemnites, and crustacean parts (these were fossils, by the way!)

 

So I continued down (or up) the Fleet, going from shales with larger ammonites, bivalves, and flattened gastropods (this was a new site for me, and I was pleased to have found it), to a the Forest Marble, which is a highly fossiliferous bed, filled with crinoids, bivalves, brachiopods and a mass of other fossils, and also the bouti beds, which is filled with the Brachiopod Rhynchonella bouti, along with Terebratula & bivalves.

At the Moonfleet site (which is where the Forest Marble is found), I noted some mines on Sea Aster, which I photographed, and when I got back, ID'd as Bucculatrix maritima, a new species for me, and was like to make it onto my targets next year (if I hadn't found it this year that is).

Bucculatrix maritima mine

 

So I kept walking up the Fleet lagoon, which if I came a month or so earlier, would be full of coots, pintails, wigeons, and brent geese, but when I went bird life was rather limited, with Mute Swans being present (one snorted at me and made me jump!), and passerines being Wheatear, Meadow Pipits, Swallows, Skylarks (singing), Chiffchaffs & a Whitethroat. Also, saw a skeleton in a tree (I presume a crow?) and a swan with no head (?).

Also, just after the bouti bed, there was the colourful leaf beetle Cassida vittata, which I've only seen once before, just about 5 mins from where I saw this one.

Cassida vittata

 

 

That's about it for the walk up the fleet, there was a caterpillar on Sallow, which might well have been a Red-line Quaker, but I am not sure.

 

 

So, onto the target. I went to Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens after work, and only had an hour before the gardens shut, so was limited on time. The target was found there in 2010, but only identified a couple of years later, and originates from Australia. Strangely, no ferns, for that is what they are found on, had been imported to the gardens from that area for a decade or so, and the tree ferns had been transported in a way in which no moths (or cats) were likely to survive, so it is most probably they have been there for a good few years, living undetected.

It only took 10 mins till I saw a small moth flitting above some plants, not ferns, but it was a moth. Then I watched as it flitted off, above a fern, where there were lots of little moths. I was certain I had found it. I quickly potted one up (I saw quickly, but it took me a little while, as I had no net).

I was right, I was looking at the lovely little moth of the Stathmopodid family, known as

Pachyrhabda steropodes, and managed my 3rd target of the year.

Pachyrhabda steropodes - note the legs!

 

As it only took me 15mins or so to find the moth, I still had 3/4 of an hour or so left, so I wandered round the gardens. I did wonder though, if you record plants, would you count one which is found at the gardens?? Obviously not the cacti or Cork Oak, but what about the plants which could have made their way there? For example, would you count a Spring Snowflake there, or not?? Anyhow, I need not worry, as I currently stick to moths.

As it happens, I saw several more Pachyrhabda steropodes as I wondered about, some being away from any ferns. I did check some of the ferns they had for sale, but sadly none had any sign of the moth or larvae.

Also saw Lady Amherst's and Golden Pheasants, but they where always in the shade, walking away from me, so have a picture of a cactus instead!

Moth Target No. 2: Mottled & Grey and Not Where I Say!

For those who didn't guess, my 2nd target species for 2014 is Mottled Grey, a widespread geometrid, of chalk downlands and heathland, but, like most spring species, it is lacking from my "list".


So a group of us were meeting up at a known site for Barred Tooth-striped, where it has been recorded before, but hadn't for a few years. They had their target (which was sort of mine), and I had mine: The Mottled Grey. I did note it had been recorded on the site before, so I was hopeful. I had planned to see MG at Blackdown, either by disturbing it by day, or netting after dark, but hadn't had the weather or time to do either.
Anyway, we had a fairly strong south easterly wind, but it was warm. The day had many butterflies on the wing, though I only managed four species (not that there's much else than those four): Red Admiral, Peacock, Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell. Also some nice beetles, including an Black Oil Beetle.

Black Oil Beetle

So anyway, we gathered on this known site and went to explore the site, looking for Wild Privet & Ash where the Barred Tooth-striped may be present. We were split in 3, two groups of two, and a group of 4, to cover as much ground as possible.

My group (of me and one other), were apparently giving the worst side, as I heard calls of "a geometrid the right size, but it got away", "an Engrailed" and "Water Carpet". We had one micro, a Depressaria daucella, which I didn't net; all I managed to find were two ticks, about every single gorse, hawthorn, bramble and blackthorn bush on the site, and a Longhorn Beetle (which was nice I suppose).
Anyway, we walked down the hill a bit, and we approached a large area of bushes. We decided to split up here, and almost immediately a moth flew past me. I did manage to net and pot it, and to my delight, I had what I believed to be a Mottled Grey (turned out to be an Early Tooth-striped, which I can confess I did misidentify, as it was smaller than the ones I have seen in before (only had experience with 2 before, both much larger with more distinct markings), and then two minutes later (after struggling through another bramble bush), I netted a second moth, an Acleris schalleriana this time.
I didn't see any other moths (except one, which got away), until I met with my other group member. He had an extra moth with him (along with the micro), and this one was a Mottled Grey, as confirmed by the county recorder later, so that then was my target done. We did a little more netting, and missing, and getting stabbed by plants, until we came across another member (from the 4 member "team" (I say team like it was a competition, which it wasn't (or at least we won't admit it was!)), who had a Water Carpet in his net, which was new for me two, so my second new species of the evening.

Water Carpet - new for me and a nice species.

Mottled Grey - My Target Species

So we decided to head on back to where we saw some Wild Privet and Ash earlier, on the way netting some Shoulder Stripes, which were nice, a lovely species which I've only seem on one occasion before. One the way there, my "team" member potted a geometrid from a hawthorn branch.
This was it! We had finally found Barred Tooth-striped! I noted some Wild Privet a few meters from the branch it was found at, and so everyone gathered round to view the rare moth!

Barred Tooth-striped - Nationally Scarce A

We managed to get a total of about 12 species or so, of which I saw 10, with 3 new species for me, plus my target species! And while I didn't net the BTS, my "teammate" did, so we sort of won??



Anyway, we all went our ways home, until the next time!

Moth Target No.1 - New House, New Rules

Haven't put a post up for a loooong time, but I have moved house since.. Well that's my excuse anyway!

Anyway, gave myself 10 target species for 2014, but I won't tell you what they are (just in case I fail to get them) :-/

Anyway, managed one already. In my old house (which was in the middle of town), I had very few good moths in Spring, but now I'm a little out of the way, maybe I'll manage to get some of those much needed Spring moths?

Anyhow, only had the trap out for a couple of hours on 2 nights so far, the first, in mid-Feb, produced 2 moths, with Dark Chestnut being new for me (but not my target), along with a rather fresh Hebrew Character.
The second trap was last night for 4 hours, first thing was a Double-striped Pug flapping about before I turned the trap on.
The trap silently hummed on, and when I checked it about 1/2 an hour later, a small moth flitted past, Agonopterix alstromeriana, which is my second of this species, since I had one at farmland in 2012. A little later, an Early Thorn and a Hebrew Character turned up, followed by a second species which is new for me, the tortix Acleris schalleriana, which was nice. It was soon that I'd have to put the trap away (shan't be long till the whole night sessions are, once I get to know the neighbours a little better), so I checked the eggboxes on the outside, producing the first Common Quaker of the year, followed (this disappeared by the next time I checked about 1/2 an hour later, but there were 4 inside the trap, so I presume it left the outside box and went in).
As I turned over the last eggbox on the outside, a massive moth sat in front of me! (well not that massive, but hey), it was my first target species of 2014, and a lovely moth besides. The fantastic Oak Beauty. Was very pleased indeed.

Male Oak Beauty