Well here goes, for better or worse, another year of moths. The old thread is here https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/f/all-creatures/196070/mostly-moths-2018/1221500#1221500
To start us off a couple of silly ones that came to greet the first trap of the year on the night of the 1st to 2nd january. It was around 6-7°C all night & frosts ever since so I gave it a go.
A Double-striped Pug
& same one closed
& White Speck
Nothing earth-shattering, but a start!
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
One from me too!!!! Out walking yesterday afternoon at Cemlyn headland, a lady walked over with one on her hand to show my Grandson - thought I had taken a nice photo but out of focus.......and afterwards we saw loads in flight after all the wildflowers up there and I didn't take another duh:(
Lot to learn
WendyBartter said:Lol ... if they carry on like this they'll knock each other's spots off!!
LOL.
It's all spots at the moment!
I've been making the most of the good weather & doing lots of traps. I went about 50 miles to a consevation area last week & joined up with a couple of other moth girls & we had an amazing night. At the moment we've counted 190 species but more to come in yet. I've also been out in the reed beds on the marshes looking for a special one that should be around soon! I'd like to be out every night, but have to sleep some-time.
This little beauty was in the trap this morning, I'd left 2 traps in some local woods. It's new for me & quite rare. Appropiately called Triangle,
on the other hand had a few of these lately, Swallow-tailed Moth
& a real beauty, Large Emerald
Keep the burnets coming!
gaynorsl said: thought I had taken a nice photo but out of focus..
Never mind Gaynor, we know what it is ... pleased you saw so many, I've not been to local reserve so much & miss seeing all the different moths & butterflies I don't get here!
Hi Wendy, I did another trap on the marshes last night & got in at 2am, then up at 7am as we had to go & fetch some firewood for the winter with our trailer. Well I'm not blaming the late night, but when I drove back with the load of wood, I parked as close to the storage place as possible. Ooops, I forgot that Ron had his record crop of Shallots on the concrete, drying out in the sun. Luckily only one wheel hit the pile, & OH is a very mild tempered. I ended up making Apricot chutney with next doors apricots & Rons squashed shallots. Oh dear, almost as bad as the short cut on his new trousers! LOL I didn't even get a great deal from the moth trap!
The highlight of mine last night was this Parsley Frog, not seen one in years!
Tha Apricot Chutney was an obvious choice as I'd got a bucket full of Apricots the previous day & had made jam already. I found a recipe on the internet that had onions in & substituted the shallots. It should taste OK but needs to be kept a while before eating.
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Nige Flickr