• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

April Moths (1 Viewer)

Wandered Scot

Well-known member
Saturday night 1st of April, finally saw the first double figure catch here in the garden, 11!

1 March Moth
1 Brindled Beauty
4 Hebrew Characters
2 Clouded Drab (1 dark and 1 light variation)
2 Small Quaker
1 Common Quaker

Most were fresh specimens, so quite chuffed with the evening. :t:


All for now

Jim
 
Had an excellent night on the 1st April:

3 Small Quaker
11 Hebrew Character
2 Oak Beauty
7 Common Quaker
2 Early Grey
2 Lead Coloured Drab
1 Chestnut (new for my trap)

The 2nd was a lot quieter with only three species!!
 
Last night I trapped at the Research centre which is literally a building within a mixed mature woodland block with open spaces. It was abit chilly 7°C at 20:00 which went down to 4°C at 23:30, but a with wind chill which was making it unpleasant.

10 Dotted Border
2 Small Quaker (one attached for confirmation, at 15mm larger and darker than normal, so I might be wrong)
2 Hebrew Character
1 micro attached for ID please.

All for now, and have a good weekend. B :) B :)

Jim
 

Attachments

  • Orthosia Cruda BFW FA 06.04.06 4490.jpg
    Orthosia Cruda BFW FA 06.04.06 4490.jpg
    54.5 KB · Views: 105
  • Ifra Unknown Micro BFW FA 06.04.06 4509.jpg
    Ifra Unknown Micro BFW FA 06.04.06 4509.jpg
    44.5 KB · Views: 114
I've not been bothering with a moth trap for the past week or so following some dreadful catches during the recent poor conditions. Last night was still a bit cool and breezy but wasn't quite as bad as other recent nights so I set an actinic trap and managed the following:

2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa), 1
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda), 2
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta), 1
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola), 1
 

Attachments

  • red_chestnut_6apr06_420_10.jpg
    red_chestnut_6apr06_420_10.jpg
    54.4 KB · Views: 113
  • early_grey_6apr06_420_10.jpg
    early_grey_6apr06_420_10.jpg
    27.1 KB · Views: 92
Jim yours look like Small Quaker (O. cruda) and probably our old friend Diurnea fagella though wouldn't be 100% on that one.
 
brianhstone said:
Jim yours look like Small Quaker (O. cruda) and probably our old friend Diurnea fagella though wouldn't be 100% on that one.

Thanks Brian, I have looked at D.fagella too, but this one was not sitting or acting like it at all. I checked against Semioscopis steinkellneriana but again this prominent looking line away from the head is longer on my moth than any example I am seeing. I unfortunately fumbled it when I was taking the photo, prior to that it was a perfect specimen!! :C

Cheers

Jim
 
Last night

J Duffie said:
Hi,
how about 666 Semioscopis avellanella for the micro above,
Jamie

Looks like avellanella to me.

Having been away and missed 5 days trapping I was looking forward to last night, especially as the weather was warmer than the frosty nights of recent. Min temp 3.6C, clear/cloudy, calm and little dew. Best night of the year so far for numbers and a good number of macros but not a single micro! They don't seem to like the cold unless it's been really cold recently.
It's beginning to rteall liven up at last with 284 moths of 14 species as follows:

Yellow Horned (1)
March Moth (2)
Early Tooth-striped (1)
Brindled Beauty (1) - new for year
Oak Beauty (2)
Small Quaker (185)
Common Quaker (31)
Clouded Drab (8)
Twin-spotted Quaker (6)
Hebrew Character (39)
Pale Pinion (2) - new for year
Early Grey (1)
Satellite (1)
Chestnut (4)

Landmarks last night included 2000th moth and 2000th macro for the year plus 600th Small Quaker.

Let's hope there's more for tonight as I have another 5 mothless nights coming up.

All the best
Pete H
 

Attachments

  • Brindled Beauty 060406 5989t.jpg
    Brindled Beauty 060406 5989t.jpg
    85.9 KB · Views: 110
  • Pale Pinion 060406 5979t.jpg
    Pale Pinion 060406 5979t.jpg
    66.2 KB · Views: 99
Last edited:
I've had a week in Dorset so haven't been able to run the trap. It was excellent for birds but the only moth I had was one Endrosis sarcitrella in the farm cottage where we were staying.
Ken
 
Last night (7th)

Slightly warmer and less windy then the night before but less moths. 4.7C min, clear/cloudy, showers and some breeze later. 199 moths of 13 species, including 130 Small Quakers, with the highlight being 2 Pine Beauties, 1st for the year. Also attached piccies of Brindled Beauty showing antennae feathering stopping before the tips of the antennae and a very dark Oak Beauty.

No more trapping for 5 nights. Talk to you next week.

All the best
Pete H
 

Attachments

  • Pine Beauty 060407 5996t.jpg
    Pine Beauty 060407 5996t.jpg
    81.4 KB · Views: 97
  • Brindled Beauty 060407 5997t.jpg
    Brindled Beauty 060407 5997t.jpg
    89.3 KB · Views: 124
  • Oak Beauty 060407 6001t.jpg
    Oak Beauty 060407 6001t.jpg
    83.8 KB · Views: 100
Last night (12th)

This site has been very quiet while I've been away! Arrived back from 40th wedding anniversary trip to Rome at 23.45 last night. Couldn't resist putting out 1 trap as the temp was 8C and it was cloudy and forecast to be dry - a bit breezy. It was an interesting exercise to see what it would attract starting half way through the night. 58 moths of 9 species caught, including the first Brindled Pug of the year - very flighty so no photos yet. Lost what was almost certainly an Acleris literana - try catching them once they've taken flight - not easy!

Brindled Pug (1)
Pine Beauty (1)
Small Quaker (30)
Common Quaker (3)
Clouded Drab (1)
Twin-spotted Quaker (4)
Hebrew Character (15)
Early Grey (1)
Chestnut (2)

A reasonably mild night forecast for tonight.

All the best
Pete H
 
Still pretty poor here. This the totals from two traps last night:
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 5
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 4
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 1
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 2
 
Pete Haynes said:
This site has been very quiet while I've been away!

That, Pete, is because no-one else in the whole of Britain is catching anything worthwhile! The moths are out there - I trapped in an oak woodland two weeks ago and got 100s of Small Quaker, about 20 species including two Brindled Pugs and a county rarity in Caloptilia populetorum - but suburban gardens tend to be rubbish until spring really kicks in.
 
Last edited:
This is very true. Even my regular NR trapping site (riverine woodland/scrub and small lakes) is no better than my garden at this time of year. Starting a new project at a fragment of old woodland with a good mix of species in Peterborough soon. Should be interesting.

The Small Quaker numbers are interesting. I attended a Northants MG visit to Bedford Purlieus (extensive old woodland) in March a couple of years ago and the numbers were estimated in the thousands. The things were everywhere.
 
Further to mine above, last night I had what I think are:
oak nycteoline
double striped pug
Diurnea fagella
E postvittana
clouded drab
small quaker
common quaker

Grateful for any confirmations
Ken
 

Attachments

  • poss E postvittana.jpg
    poss E postvittana.jpg
    18.4 KB · Views: 83
  • Diurnea fagella 1a.jpg
    Diurnea fagella 1a.jpg
    28.5 KB · Views: 102
  • oak nicteoline1b.jpg
    oak nicteoline1b.jpg
    36.7 KB · Views: 94
  • pug1a.jpg
    pug1a.jpg
    39.6 KB · Views: 100
  • clouded drab.jpg
    clouded drab.jpg
    51 KB · Views: 100
Warning! This thread is more than 18 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top