Early

 I always think the "handover" between Winter moths and Early moths happens around New Year and in a spiders web outside my study (so from last night - the 30th), my last Early of the year...or is it my first of the new season? As it is dead, I'll process it for the dissection website. Peter Hall

Bringsty Common: Early moth

 

Overwintering Buttoned Snout at Wofferwood Common

 I was a bit surprised this morning to discover a Buttoned Snout on one of my kitchen cabinets. A new species for my list here and not a time of year or setting that I expected to find one. 

I shall have to check the Hop plants in the garden more carefully next year. 

 

 

Opogona omoscopa

I collected a micro-moth from Jarred Tibbetts on the evening of the 2nd December. He had found it while dusting a shelf, near a house plant display at his work at Webbs Garden Centre in West Hagley, earlier that day. VC37 recorder Tony Simpson suggested it may be Opogona omoscopa from the crude record shot I mailed to him. Patrick Clement kindly did a thorough examination independently, after photographing the live moth and confirmed it was a male and new for Worcestershire. Although now resident on most of the Scilly Isles it only has a few records on mainland England including a couple have found in light traps in NE England.

UK Moth Recorders Conference January 2021

 Bookings are now being taken for next year's UK Moth Recorders Conference which will be held virtually on Zoom.  It is free of charge and has been arranged for Saturday 30th January (10am-1pm).  Follow the link here if you wish to reserve a place.

Kington migrant

 

A mild but wet night on 24th - this Rusty-dot Pearl turned up in the trap.

Later November Moths

Counted 13 Scarce Umber and 7 Northern Winter Moths in a post dusk, torch-lit amble round Trench Wood on Saturday evening. Followed by a super garden Dark Chestnut on Sunday morning. A Crossbill (bird)

flew just 40 feet over my front garden Whitebeam at lunchtime today with me 20 foot up it on a ladder - trimming the outer branches.

Bodenham Muslin

The Muslin moth is not one to second brood, but these are strange times. John Walshe did record a second brooder in October last year and this November example is the second such record. Robin Hemming

Bodenham: December moth (left) and Muslin moth (right)

 

Bringsty Streak

 Following on from Ian's record, making up just the 6th species for the night of November 12th, I had a moth stuck to an oak leaf at the bottom of the trap, the oak leaf cupping a small puddle of water which had trapped and trashed the attached moth. The wonders of dissection, identified it as a Streak, the first record for the garden here. Peter Hall

Bringsty Common: Streak

 

 

Late Autumn on the Doward

 On 10th Nov I put my actinic out hope to catch some migrants on their way to Bodenham. No luck with that but did find something unfamiliar which turned out to be a Streak. Although the books class this as 'common', PH tells me that apart from at one site they're not so common in Herefordshire. If their foodplant here is Broom they could be local or more likely from the Forest of Dean.

Otherwise just the usual fayre but was surprised to get a December Moth in October (30th)

Bodenham November 7th

Following on from Mike's signs of migration, I checked the wall of the house this morning hoping for a Crimson Speckled, but I could barely believe my eyes that the sole moth on the wall was this. Possibly the most northernmost record so far. Robin Hemming

Radford's Flame Shoulder

Signs of Migration

Signs of migration continued here at Norchard, Worcs over the weekend with two Vestal, a Dark Sword-grass and a Diamond-back Moth. A late Uncertain is possibly a second brood rather than a migrant.

Bodenham Migrants

 Having just returned from Scilly and had a disappointing time with migrants, it's ironic that I should get such a flush of them in the garden including a county first. The Spoladea recurvalis provided some entertainment, when it flew onto the cone I knew what it was immediately but fluffed it with the pot. I came inside to look it up and then wasn't sure thinking it might be Pyrausta nigrata which can fly in October - fortunately, unknown to me it flew down into the trap without drowning itself so I was pleased and relieved to find it again under an egg box.

Over 2 nights I recorded the folloing migrants:

October 20th: Silver Y (1), Vestal (1), Palpita vitrealis (1)

October 21st: Spoladea recurvalis (1) - county first, Palpita vitrealis (2), Diamond-back (1), Gem (1), Dark Sword Grass (1).

Bodenham: Spoladea recurvalis

Bodenham:  Dark Sword Grass

 

Bodenham: Palpita vitrealis

Bodenham: Gem

Bodenham: Vestal

Robin Hemming
 

Hummingbird Hawk-moth

 I first saw this Hummingbird Hawk-moth at 8.30 am on a cold Sunday morning the 11th of October in my garden at Norchard, Worcs. This photo was taken later on the same morning and presumably the same individual feeding on a Salvia. I had found a Vestal feeding on ivy on the 2nd of October. Unfortunately it had disappeared when I got back with my camera. 

Time to catch up !

Having seen several posts for Clifden Nonpareil over the last week or two, finally catch up with 3 over the last 2 nights to the garden trap near Pershore - the one below being the most intact - birds / bats having had a bit of a nibble at the wings of the other 2 ! 

Dark Sword-grass and Cypress Pug also of interest last night. 

Putley joins the club

 I was very envious when I read that Mike Bailey had received a visit from a Clifden Nonpareil and didn’t expect to only have to wait a fortnight before one reached my garden - possibly attracted by the black poplars? When I checked my trap in the early hours of Sunday morning, my suspicions were aroused by the size of what at first glance, looked like a very large Red Underwing. On looking closer, there was something quite different about the markings. A glimpse of blue as it briefly flashed opened it wings confirmed that I too had a special visitor.

I released it back into the trap at dusk yesterday evening to move on in its own time – all the other moths had flown by this morning, but it stuck around most of the day, resting on the inside wall of the box before leaving mid afternoon Sally Webster

 

Some September notes from the Doward

 

I was surprised to find a Marbled White-spot last night (Sept 21st) but PH advised me that the last Atlas has a second generation September blip on the phenology chart. Overall a quiet period here on the Doward with jut the first Black Rustic of the Autumn and a few Dusky Thorns.

Not to outdone I also had one of these bluey things on 18th.

On 8th September I thought I'd finally found something rare with this Metalampra italica  an Oecophorid first new to science in 1977 and first found in UK in 2003. But PH tells me they're now well established in Herefordshire since 2014 with 30 odd records.

Garway Surprises

Since my brother resurrected Dad's Robinson moth trap in June, we have enjoyed many mornings going through the trap. Sunday (20/09/20) was no exception! We were delighted to find a Clifden Nonpareil lurking under the penultimate egg carton! 

A beautiful specimen and a first for me. I think I'll be buzzing for a while yet over this one! 

Also very pleased to have found this resource, finding it very helpful with identifying the moths that appear in your 'What's Flying Tonight' section. Thank you all!

Humming-bird Hawk-moth in Mortimer Forest

 

Humming-bird Hawk-moth spotted today in my garden, in Pipe Aston, edge of Mortimer Forest. 
On NMRS the record appeared as new to the area. 

False Codling Moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta, Hall Green.

 An unusual looking Tortrix in the garden trap of Alan Prior last Tuesday night turned out to be False Codling Moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta, just the third record for Worcestershire vice county according to my Mapmate database.

This may have emanated from one of the many Asian or Afro-Caribbean supermarkets along the the Stratford Road, close to Alan's house, as they often have the fruit and veg out in front of the shops. 

The moth's natural range is sub-Saharan Africa and is usually imported as a larva in oranges and chillies, see the DEFRA fact sheet,

https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk/assets/factsheets/PPN-FalseCodlingMoth-final.pdf

Patrick Clement

Dodford goes Blue

 I have seen a couple in Warwickshire last year and this year and I don't think there is any doubt that they have bred and spread remarkably over the last few years.

Not seen so many reports for Worcestershire but enough to have been hoping to get one, and if not this year then next.

A quite windy night last night from the North East and the Aspen and Polpars that I am aware of in the Village are to the South.

Anyway it is my birthday today and the first Eggbox I turned over revealed this present.

Only disappointment is that after a few quick photos it flew off without warning. I had a Red Underwing in the trap a week or so ago and that "revved up" for ages before flying off. Shame because I was going to show my wife who has had to listen to me banging on about Blue Underwings for the last month!

Clifden Nonpareil

Pete Smith

Dodford, Worcestershire

Clifden Nonpareil at Uffmoor Wood

Following the discovery of a Clifden Nonpareil larva at Uffmoor Wood in July, Mike Williams suggested we ought to run some light traps in the wood to check for adults and so four of us convened there last Tuesday night.

We were joined by Beverley Challinor, who found the larva, the first confirmed breeding record for the species in Worcestershire, and were rewarded with the arrival of a ‘Big Blue’ mid evening. It was quite a sight to see this large moth in flight, illuminated by the MV light as it came closer and closer before settling in vegetation outside the trap. A pristine specimen, suggesting it had probably emerged in Uffmoor Wood from previous breeding.

Patrick Clement

L-album Wainscot

Slim pickings in my Hereford trap last night  but this was a bonus, 6th county record

Boxworm Moth

A survey of a property in Fernhill Heath last night produced a fine individual to light in a flower meadow. Other highlights were Elachista freyerella, Phyllonorycter ulmifoliella, Eulamprotes atrella, Aethes smeathmanniana, 2 Brindled

Greens and an early Feathered Thorn.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth

My first Humming-bird Hawk-moth of the season settled in my garden yesterday. So much easier to photograph when it is sat still. The 8th saw an unusual second brood Blotched Emerald. I had posted one on here in September 2016. The 10th saw a second Clifden Nonpareil here at Norchard, Worcs. 

Bringsty Common September 7th and 8th

I have found a spot in probably the worst location in the garden, where hornet numbers are suppressed. Less than 10 a night these past two nights. Still lots of wings and bodies in the trap bottom. No sign here any any more Clifden Nonpareils after one last year, but still early days. No sign of any Red Underwings too so far. Migrants limited to Silver Y and a Dark-sword Grass. I'll do a composite list for the last 2 nights. Peter Hall

 

Bringsty Common 7-8th September
Argyresthia semifusca
Epiphyas postvittana	Light Brown Apple
Acleris variegana	Garden Rose Tortrix
Celypha lacunana
Epinotia ramella
Epinotia nisella
Yellow Shell	Camptogramma bilineata
Common Marbled Carpet	Dysstroma truncata
Green Carpet	Colostygia pectinataria
Tawny Speckled Pug	Eupithecia icterata
Brimstone Moth	Opisthograptis luteolata
Dusky Thorn	Ennomos fuscantaria
Engrailed	Ectropis crepuscularia
Light Emerald	Campaea margaritaria
Snout	Hypena proboscidalis
Burnished Brass	Diachrysia chrysitis
Silver Y	Autographa gamma
Copper Underwing	Amphipyra pyramidea
Angle Shades	Phlogophora meticulosa
Frosted Orange	Gortyna flavago
Lunar Underwing	Omphaloscelis lunosa
Centre-barred Sallow	Atethmia centrago
Feathered Gothic	Tholera decimalis
Common Wainscot	Mythimna pallens
Dark Sword-grass	Agrotis ipsilon
Flame Shoulder	Ochropleura plecta
Small Square-spot	Diarsia rubi
Large Yellow Underwing	Noctua pronuba
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing	Noctua fimbriata
Lesser Yellow Underwing	Noctua comes
Square-spot Rustic	Xestia xanthographa
Six-striped Rustic	Xestia sexstrigata
Setaceous Hebrew Character	Xestia c-nigrum
Autumnal Rustic	Eugnorisma glareosa