FlyinginFordham: And we're off! 30 moths to the trap, more than January & February combined!

30 moths of 13 species last night, more moths than I saw in the whole of the two first months of the year (29 in total).

It's amazing that one perfect night weather-wise can be the real deal breaker.

Yesterday we had highs of 14 degrees, and this morning at around 5am the minimum was still a pleasant 10 degrees.

Coupled with light winds, no moon and full cloud cover it had to all come together surely.

We had light rain early evening, and that sometimes does hamper early fliers, particularly in the summer, but this wasn't the case for last night.

And I finally got a Chestnut, wahaaaay!

5 new species for the year were recorded, and a sixth was completely new for the garden list!

Acleris kochiella is an over-wintering tortrix moth that I have never caught in any gardens that i've trapped in, for me it's always been a woodland moth, so very pleased an example was spotted sitting on our side gate.

It is the 685th species for the garden and the 2nd new moth this year.

Moth garden list for 2023 stands at 26 species

16/03/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Chestnut 1 [NFY]
Hebrew Character 3 [NFY]

Oak Beauty 1 [NFY]
Small Quaker 2 [NFY]
Clouded Drab 1
Common Quaker 7
Dotted Border 1
March Moth 5

Micro Moths

Acleris kochiella 1 [NFG]
Eudonia angustea 1 [NFY]
Agonopterix alstromeriana 3
Agonopterix heracliana 1
Emmelina monodactyla 3