Fresh arrivals

The warmest day of the year bought Peacock, Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell onto the wing in Batch Valley. This was followed by a cloudy warm night, the perfect time to put out the mothtrap. I was not to be disappointed, with 25 moths of 12 species, easily the best catch of the year.

The commonest moth was the Mottled Grey, a species I caught in quite large numbers in spring last year.

Mottled Grey

Half of the species were making their first appearance this year, though most were expected. This included some wonderfully fresh Hebrew Characters, a real crowd-pleaser.

Hebrew Character

I also recorded single Common Plume, Small Quaker and Clouded Drab, the first records of this year. The other new species for the year was Early Grey, with three of these beautiful moths.

Early Grey

There were still some 'hangers on', species I have been recording for the last couple of weeks. There were two Red Chestnuts, a moth I record here in good numbers, along with single examples of The Satellite, Chestnut, March Moth and Dotted Border. The last of these is a species I record occasionally in the late winter, but I had not until now secured a reasonable photograph of.

Dotted Border

And we're off...

The weather is finally turning, and the moths are beginning to come. Just a few degrees warmer at night is enough to make moths more active and more likely to come the trap.

This morning I was pleased to find four moths in the trap, each of different species. First out was this lovely Grey Shoulder-knot. This moth will have emerged in the late autumn and over-wintered before becoming active again with the warmer conditions.

Grey Shoulder-knot

Also in the trap was an old friend, a Satellite (with yellow planets and satellites), and our second Red Chesnut. The final moth was a new one for the garden, the very attractive Hebrew Character. This striking moth is a common species, but none the less impressive for it.

Hebrew Character