FlyinginFordham: Signs of times changing

From a very cold east breeze to hints of west and even brief southerly air flows, things are slowly turning towards my favour, but it's still very early days.

On Tuesday my boy spotted a small moth fluttering around our shed late afternoon, and it landed! I shouted 'You are quicker than me, grab a pot'. He ran back and returned with practically a jam jar! which was too big and wouldn't sit flush on the wood, so I told him to go and get a glass tube, quickly potted up I could already see what it might be, a regular moth in my old Herts haunt, a potential Mompha jurassicella, and which appears to be not on the county list for Cambs. Dissection will be needed.

Last night I ran my trap all night and things were still rather quiet, but there were some new species peeking from behind the egg trays.

Purple Thorn was the highlight, an uncommon moth here in my garden, the other new species was a fresh Garden Carpet, on the flipside, a very common moth here.

The dusk patio forays yielded 5 species including a year first Phyllonorycter blancardella

Milder nights are incoming, but nothing truly spectacular yet.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 51 species

08/04/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Micro Moths

Mompha sp (possibly jurassicella) - TBC

10/04/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Garden Carpet 1 [NFY]

Purple Thorn 1 [NFY]
Brindled Beauty 5
Clouded Drab 1
Common Quaker 2
Early Grey 2
Hebrew Character 1
Nut-tree Tussock 1

Micro Moths

Phyllonorycter blancardella 1 [NFY] (Netted)

Caloptilia rufipennella 1 (Netted)

Caloptilia semifascia 2 (Netted)

Lyonetia clerkella 1 (Netted)

Mompha subbistrigella 1