It has been a very hectic week, with opportunities for 'mothing' limited. I did manage to get out to Wild Moor on the top of the Long Mynd on Monday for an evening walk with Jo, and there were moths everywhere. The best was this Gold Swift that Jo found resting on bracken.
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| Gold Swift |
Tuesday night saw the moth trap get an outing. It ended up being one of the best sessions of the year, with several new species. There were two definite highlights. The first was an Eyed Hawkmoth, a slightly worn individual but still a stunning moth.
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| Eyed Hawkmoth |
The other was my first Garden Tiger. A moth I remember seeing as a child 25 years ago, but not since. It was a very welcome addition to the garden list.
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| Garden Tiger |
On Wednesday night my moth trapping was restricted to turning on the porch light for twenty minutes at dusk. There were plenty of moths flying and I quickly picked up two new species. On was a Common White Wave and the other was this Purple Clay.
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| Purple Clay |
Everything went quiet after this until Saturday night, when I was finally able to get the trap out again. The catch was a little disappointing, with only a few new moths. One of the most interesting was this tortrix, which I think may be Hedya ochroleucana.
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| Hedya ochroleucana |
