Hi All, I took an executive decision & decided to amalgamate the Butterfly & Moth threads which may make it easier to find if it's used more!
These are the old threads from 2019 Beautiful butterflies https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/f/all-creatures/200195/beautiful-butterflies-2019#pifragment-4285=1
& Mostly Moths https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/f/all-creatures/198118/mostly-moths-2019/1273216#pifragment-4285=1
To start us off here are a few from the recent traps & wine rope,
this is a lovely Satelite from the 8th january
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
Cin J
Thanks Caroline, yes we're fine here, rain every day but not enough to cause problems thankfully. It's quite flat around here so flooding tends to be a slow build up. I never really get much time in the summer for coming on the forum, too many other things to do, but it's calmed down a bit now. I do look in regularly but don't always post my thoughts. How was your first summers trapping? Did you enjoy it?
Lot to learn
Me too H, was horrified at the damage to roads on a video I saw earlier ... those poor lost people, truly shocking!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
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Regards, Hazel
Thanks all for your thoughts. We've been keeping up with the news & it is truly dreadful. The worst is that it happens somewhere in the region every year these days.
On a brighter subject the clouds cleared long enough to put the trap out for 2,5 hours last night & had this beauty, not seen for a few years, a Canary-shouldered Thorn
Excellent thanks all. A beautiful moth with a beautiful name ️. Re nearby water, we have fishing lakes and ditches from the Stour a few hundred yds away. I also put in a small pond last winter, although it's been nearly empty most of the time, due to lack of rainwater to fill it.
Found this on the Beautiful China Mark http://www.ukflymines.co.uk/Moths/Nymphula_nitidulata.phpI reckon it was laid on the rushes in the fishing lakes and has come to investigate my new, little pond, and ended-up in the bathroom! Maybe I'll get to see more once the pond gets fuller. Although it's strange how many moths I only get to see once...
thanks for the info Cin J
yes the pond is now nearly full and there is a frog living in the un-trimmed edge.
Moth-trapping at the moment is a quick dash off to woody areas & pack up gear quick as possible if it starts to rain! T say it's not perfect is an understatement but I've been rewarded by a couple of beauties.
This is a Lilac beauty & I've only seen it twice before, both times on an island off the coast, so was really pleased to see it on one of my local areas
& the best of the week was this Eastern Eggar, totally new for me & a rare protected species, which was an amazing find on a trap where I spent 3 hours standing around at 13°C waiting for moths to come! In truth after the first hour I just got out of the car every 5 minutes to check if there was anything new.
Locally our cases of Covid are going up fast & we are now at 95 cases per 100,000 compared to 30 about 3 weeks ago. I think we may be heading for confinement for the over 65's. I just wish they'd brought in measures earlier before the poor hospitals become overloaded. I also hope my evenings out in the woods are made an exception! LOL