Brenda writes: “The moth trap is back in its accustomed place in our garden and today I had the best haul of moths yet this year, 40 moths in total, three of them new species. There were lots of heart and dart (18) and new for me this season were dark arches and setacious Hebrew character.
I had a green micro which is a migrant, tortrix viridana, which has the common name green oak tortrix because, I assume, its larvae feed on oak.
Talking of micros, I had a micro on the last day at Dungarthill and James has now confirmed my identification, notocelia cynosbatella.
Another moth of interest was a common wainscot which was darker than I’m used to seeing. James said this was unusual because the darker moths are usually in the second brood.
Finally we had a female pale tussock, which is a third larger than the male and would definitely struggle to fit on a clothes peg, as it’s male counterpart did previously!
I saw one flower species along the verges, biting stonecrop. As its name implies it grows in stony places and is often seen adorning the wastelands of motorway central reservations with its bright yellow flowers.
New species for June 12th:
Moths: dark arches, setaceous Hebrew character, common wainscot, notocelia cynosbatella, tortrix viridana
Flowers: biting stonecrop
TOTALS TO DATE:
Birds = 200
Moths = 101
Wildflowers = 196