September moths 2007 (2 Viewers)

[davidg]

lunar underwing (new for year - unless anyone can turn it into a beaded chestnut, which I've never seen )
Ken

Sorry, Ken, it's a Lunar Underwing, but let me have your address and I'll send you a few Beaded Chestnuts when they start flooding in here!

David

 

[robhope]

Ken,

Could you please send me a Rosy Rustic and a Sharp-angled carpet as you seem to have plenty and I have never seen them. They would also bring my year list to 200.

P.S. I'll even take a Centre-barred Sallow or Oak Lutestring if they are going spare...

robhope

Egrets, I've had a few

 

[Surreybirder]

What's this: moth swap-shop!
Don't worry, Rob, you'll make 200 easily with several late autumn species still to come.
I expect the various sallows, black rustic, deep brown dart, feathered thorn, red-line quaker, merveille du jour, possibly red underwing and several others yet.
Ken

 

[Nerine]

The outside light is still working its magic and produced a Grass Eggar last night. New for me!! |=)|

Nerine

 

[Surreybirder]

Nice moth, Nerine.
I'm confused. it doesn't look much like the grass eggar in W & T. More like small eggar - but that's a spring moth.

Ken

PS Having looked at various photos, I think that your ID is correct. Perhaps W & T have drawn it with the wings further apart.

 

[Nerine]

it doesn't look much like the grass eggar in W & T. More like small eggar - but that's a spring moth.

Perhaps W & T have drawn it with the wings further apart.

Well I was confused at first, Ken because as you say it didn't seem to match W & T but the size was right. So I looked it up on Mike's site (still looked different) and on UK moths site which showed their second moth matching well. My moth did open its wings but by the time I had the camera ready it had closed them again.

I'm pretty sure it must be a Grass Eggar.

Nerine

 

[Brian Stone]

A couple of interesting ones in the past two nights.

The Large Ranunculus is clearly assymetric with the left wing shorter than the right. Remarkably on the same night someone else in Cambs had the same species with the right wing shorter than the left.

The Pink-barred Sallow was the first for my garden, although I have recorded it elsewhere. Very nice looking moth.

Otherwise last night was remakable for The Snout being the most numerous species (most I've ever caught in one night).

1524 Emmelina monodactyla 1
1682 Blood-vein (Timandra comae) 1
1764 Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata) 1
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 1
1906 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) 1
2107 Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) 5
2109 Lesser Yellow Underwing (Noctua comes) 3
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum) 1
2134 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa) 3
2199 Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens) 3
2269 Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago) 2
2273 Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata) 1
2364 Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago) 1
2384 Vine's Rustic (Hoplodrina ambigua) 1
2434 Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis) f. juncta 1
2477 The Snout (Hypena proboscidalis) 6

 

[Nerine]

Interesting observation on your Large Ranunculus, Brian. Yes, a lovely Pink-barred Sallow, I've yet to see one of those.

Last night in the trap I caught

Willow Beauty (2)
Light emerald
Garden Carpet
Common Wainscot
Large Yellow Underwing (3)
Setaceous Hebrew Character (3) (new for me!!!)
Grass Eggar
Square-spot rustic (2)
double striped pug
What I think could be a Crescent Dart but am not too sure as I've not seen one before.
Pale Mottled Willow (I think) - it was smaller than other PMWs I've had in the past.)

And a few micros.

Nerine

 

[davidg]

Certainly looks like Crescent Dart, Nerine, but I've never seen one before either - and never likely to in Cambridge! Pale Mottled Willow is correct, they vary alot in size.

David

 

[Nerine]

Certainly looks like Crescent Dart, Nerine, but I've never seen one before either - and never likely to in Cambridge! Pale Mottled Willow is correct, they vary alot in size.

David

Thanks David

Nerine

 

[Surreybirder]

Reasonable catch last night included:
hoary footman
willow beauty (2)
setaceous Hebrew character (sev)
flame shoulder
sallow (new for year) (3)
oak lutestring (4+)
large yellow underwing (lots)
broad bordered yellow underwing (nfy)
lesser yellow underwing
brindled green (nfy)
white-spotted pug (I think)
snout (c3)
September thorn
lunar underwing
square-spot rustic
burnished brass
brimstone
maiden's blush (2)
light emerald
green carpet
pine carpet (I think)
common marbled carpet
Archips podana
Epiphyas postvittana
Carcina quercana
a few unIDed micros
1 wasp (no hornets !) and lots of crane flies

Ken

 

[Nerine]

Quite a nice catch on Saturday night 15th Sep (a mild night after a sunny day) with Straw Underwing a new one for me, and Feathered Ranunculus (I believe it is one) the first for the year.


Garden Carpet
Mullein Wave
Light Emerald (2)
Galium Carpet (2)
Doubled striped pug
L-Album Wainscot
Flame Shoulder
Pale Mottled Willow (3)
Brimstone moth (3)
Willow Beauty (6)
Crescent Dart (2)
Large Yellow Underwing (9 or 10)
Lesser Yellow Underwing (2)
Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing (2)
Common Wainscot (2)
Square spot rustic
The Snout
Straw Underwing (new for me)
Feathered Ranunculus (I think) (new for year)

1 spider
No craneflies!!
How lucky I am not to catch wasps and hornets!

The nights have become somewhat colder and windier this week so it’ll be interesting to see how this will affect the number of moths caught next time I use the trap.


Nerine

 

[Connor Rand]

September moths have been fairly poor so far in the garden, as they have been all year it has to be said! However Lilac Beauty, Maidens Blush and Large Thorn (yummy!) have all been of note recently.

For pics of all of those see my website (link at bottom) and click on moth gallery.

p.s could do with Oak Lutestring!

cheers,

 

[Surreybirder]

Nice photos, Nerine and Connor.
Off topic, I admit, but I went into my shed after dark to free a large yellow underwing and found this southern hawker roosting. (Pictures taken under artifical light - so I apologise for the lack of sharpness.)
Ken

 

[black52bird]

All Quiet on the Eastern Front

Dear All

Sorry for the lengthy silence from Budapest, but I've not been here. After a week in Norwich (25/08-01.09 - Brown China Mark was a new species), I then spent 02-12/09 in Cyprus - no moths (well, actually I had a couple of Micros at dinner, but unidentified) - but Agama lizard and various geckoes were fun. Better still were getting both Cyprus Warbler and Cyprus Wheatear for my life list, along with Chukar. Other nice birds were Peregrine, Masked Shrike, Spectacled Warbler (my 2nd), Honey Buzzard (my best ever view of the European sp), Audouin's Gull (2+2).... plus other fun migrants...but not many. I'll be posting the dragonflies for confirmation on that area after I get back from a week in Lodz, Poland. Nice photos of your Dragonfly, Ken.

Moths since I got back to BP have been a Clancy's Rustic, 3 Golden Triangles, a Straight-barred Sallow, a Square-spot Rustic...not much to write home about. Few and far between.

Best

David

 

[Surreybirder]

I had a couple of Micros at dinner

David

I hope they were served with vegetables
Cyprus is a great place for wildlife... the only moth I IDed there was vestal but, as you say, loads of birds and dragonflies.
Ken

 

[Surreybirder]

Trapping conditions were reasonable last night but I only left the trap on till 10 pm. Nothing remarkable (except the lack of large yellow underwings) but only my second white-point of the year and what I think is corylana. (The white point is actually almost triangular.)
There seems to be a plague of craneflies - perhaps the progeny of last year's bumper crop.

 

[Surreybirder]

I seem to be slightly hogging this thread! Anyway, not a great night last night. Just when I thought it was safe to come out, I found another hornet in the trap. It looks friendly enough at a distance but close up there's something about those mandibles that look threatening.
No new species for the year but some nice burnished brasses. I thought that the large yellow underwing looked slightly threatening, too!
Ken

 

[Nerine]

I found another hornet in the trap. It looks friendly enough at a distance but close up there's something about those mandibles that look threatening.

I'm so glad I never find hornets in my trap! Lovely burnished brass, Ken, I've only ever seen one, earlier this year. Good pics of your scarier insects!

Nice to see you back again, David. Seems you had a great holiday in Cyprus!

Last night (mild again and windless) was a similar catch to last Saturday (15th). No new species, 40+ moths, 15 species. Large Yellow Underwings all over the place! Lime speck pug and Silver Y were two I haven't seen for a while. Two Crescent Darts (not totally similar) - I can't think they are anything else. And crane flies.

Gorgeous warm and sunny day today and this evening there is no wind at all so I've put the trap out again, this time in a different part of the garden.

I suppose these moths are crescent darts, I think they must be.

Nerine

 

[Nerine]

Saturday night's catch was much the same as above with similar weather conditions. No new moths, Large Yellow Underwings and Willow Beauties in abundance! I had two pretty L-Album wainscots and a good looking Snout amongst the other usual suspects.

Weather has changed drastically now.

Nerine