www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi! Neil, we'd the Snow has well, it's been bitter cold and we got caught in an Hail shower before the Snow arrived, I don't think any moth's will venture out here yet so it's nice to see a photo of one. Goldie

Hi, Neil

Wow,wonderful pictures of the foxes, you're lucky to have them in your garden. Also good pictures of the moths as it is brilliant that you have these species just over night because me and my Family have not seen these moths before.



from Emma

Cheers Wurzel, the Winter Moths are tough little critters despite their delicate looks but they do quickly start to look a bit raggedy. Not surprising really given the conditions they will fly in.
Hi Goldie, the snow didn't amount to much here but we did have some bitterly cold winds.
Hi Emma, glad you like the photos of the Foxes and the moths...some more moths coming up.

Garden Moths 2016

Anyone who read this diary last year will know that, after thinking about it for a couple of years, I finally treated myself to my moth trap in March and ran this in my back garden regularly through the rest of the year. The season for moths doesn't really finish like that for butterflies as there are a few species that only fly during the winter months, although the number of these is obviously greatly reduced compared with the summer.

In the end I managed to catch 132 species of larger (macro) moths, most of which I had never seen before and was totally unaware were flying around the garden during the hours of darkness.

During the year I posted photos of most of the species that came to the trap but I have selected some favourites below which have been picked because they show a good variety of size, shape and colour. They are posted in rough order that they were caught, starting in late March.
As well as the larger moths, I also caught 50 odd species of micro moths...

Bye for now,

Neil.

Hi! Neil, I particularly like the" Muslin Moth", it seems to have it's own fur hood I saw a programme ,( can't remember where now or if I was told by some one) that if you put some cloths out at night dipped firstly in red wine and sugar and hang them out they'll attract Moths, do you know if this is true? or was some one having a joke. Goldie

Hi Goldie,

Don't worry nobody was having you on. Wine roping and sugaring are two tried and tested methods for attracting moths, check out the link below...

http://butterfly-conservation.org/3114- ... oping.html

I haven't tried either yet myself but I may give it a go later this year. Apparently some species of moth are easier to attract to these methods than to light.

Cheers,

Neil.

That's great news Neil, I'm going to try the wine and sugar one this Summer and see what happens. Goldie

Goldie M wrote:I saw a programme ,( can't remember where now or if I was told by some one) that if you put some cloths out at night dipped firstly in red wine and sugar and hang them out they'll attract Moths, do you know if this is true? or was some one having a joke. Goldie

I seem to vaguely remember asking my mum for a can of beer (or some such alcohol) when I was far to young to be buying such stuff to do this. I think I mixed it with honey and used a paint brush to paint it onto tree trunks. I've no idea what if anything was attracted though, my memory fails me on that aspect sadly. I suspect there were some very happy local wasps for some days after though !

Great series of shots Neil There's quite a few there that I've not seen perhaps a trap should be my next years Christmas present

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for the comments, Goldie, Bugboy and Wurzel

Garden Moths part 2 – Micros

In addition to the larger (macro) moths that came to my garden trap in 2016, there were also lots of micro moths. When I started trapping in the garden in late March I had been determined to concentrate on the larger moths, after all there are apparently 874 species that have been recorded in the UK and it is quite possible to see a few hundred of these in the average garden. I had no intention of getting sucked into looking at the micros as well, of which there are 1,627 species on the British list, many of which can be difficult to identify.
Well, the problem with this train of thought was that the distinction between macro and micro moths is an artificial one based more on the families that they belong to than anything else and the reality is that there are some species that are considered micros (e.g. Mother of Pearl, Small Magpie) which are larger than many macros, and there are some macros (e.g. many Pugs, some small Geometers) that may be mistaken for micros due to their small size. So with this blurred distinction it was inevitable I suppose that I would soon start to try and identify some of the micros that I found in the trap and before I knew it I was slipping further towards the dark side.

So far I have managed to identify 50 species although I missed some at the time as taking photos of many of these can be difficult, not only due to their small size but also due to the fact that many of them seem to be just as lively during the day as at night and more than a few got away before I managed to get a photo good enough for ID purposes.
My most helpful reference for identifying these micro-lepidoptera is the 'Field Guide to the Micro Moths of Great Britain and Ireland' - http://www.ukmoths.org.uk/book-reviews/ ... icro-book/ - which I treated myself to last year and is a great introduction to this group of moths.
Only a few of the larger or more common micros have common names with most known only by their scientific names which in many cases don't really lend themselves to being easily pronounced or remembered.

Starting off with the largest of the micros, through the summer months I had good numbers of Mother of Pearl (Pleurotya ruralis) plus Small Magpie (Anania hortulata) and its close relative Anania coronata.
The commonest micros in my garden judged by total numbers coming to the trap throughout the year were Light Brown Apple Moths (Epiphyas postvittana) which I had in varying numbers right from when I started trapping in late March through to last week (Jan 8th) when I had a couple in the trap. This species is originally from Australia where it is a pest in orchards and is thought to have been introduced accidentally into this country sometime in the 1930s and has since spread and become very common in many areas.
Another accidental introduction from Australia which is rapidly spreading and becoming common in some areas is Tachystola acroxantha which I saw from May right through until December in good numbers, sometimes a dozen or more around the trap on each occasion.
During June and July I had lots of grass moths of the types we are all probably familiar with when they may be seen in large numbers in grassy meadows when looking for butterflies. I reckon I had 3 or 4 different species regularly but am only fairly confident of the ID of couple of these.
Most of the other species turned up in smaller numbers varying from single examples to maybe a dozen or so on each occasion from April through to the end of September when numbers of most species tailed off.
I am fairly confident that I have got the IDs right for those posted below but would welcome any corrections.
One of the biggest differences between looking at butterflies and looking at moths is that with a few exceptions the butterflies are easily identified, even when on the wing. With moths there are so many, especially when the micros are included, that identification can often mean taking a photo of an individual and trying to ID it afterwards. Then you can add in the fact that some moths are very variable in appearance...but on the other hand there are similar species that are difficult to tell apart, and I ended up spending loads of time comparing my photos with reference images, both in my books and on the internet. This can be very time consuming so I saved some of this for the winter which helps to pass some of those dark and gloomy days and nights.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Even more racking moths Neil - some of those micros are little gems My favourite has to be the Honeysuckle moth - it looks mishapen

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel...sorry for the late reply, I somehow missed your comment. I didn't realise how diverse the micro moths are until I started looking at them last year.

Some random recent stuff

Over the past couple of weeks the transition from meteorological winter into spring has stuttered on with a good mixture of different weather conditions including some cold nights and frosty mornings, spells of heavy rain and blustery winds, but also some nice sunny spells which have felt quite pleasant.
Most of the plants in the garden appear to be at about where they should be at this time of year which indicates to me that things are fairly normal so far around here, although it is obviously far too early yet to guess how spring will shape up this year.

I have yet to see my first butterfly of the season but this is normal for me and I would not normally expect to start seeing anything around here for another week or two at least.

The moth trap has been out in the garden a few times and I have started seeing the first early spring moths including a few Common Quakers. This widespread and often abundant species overwinters as a pupa and the emergence of these is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner.
I have also had a few micros in the trap, so far all species that overwinter as adults, including a nice example of Acleris cristana. This species occurs mainly in southern England which makes it a good garden record for me here in the midlands.
All the usual birds have been visiting the garden including a number of Bullfinches which seem to be increasing in number around here.
I am always pleased to spot the Blackcaps in the garden although curiously I only ever see them from the second half of the winter.
One bird that used to be very common around here but which I don't often see in the garden these days is the Starling. Years ago, back when I was a nipper in the 1970s, there used to be thousands of these roosting every night on the high window ledges of the tall buildings in Birmingham city centre and I vividly remember the noise they made as we waited at the bus stop after shopping trips with my parents. I was chuffed therefore to see one on my feeders yesterday (Sunday) and grabbed my camera as he posed nicely in the late morning sun.
Looks like another cold night and a frost for the morning and then another band of heavy rain heading in tomorrow but the end of the week is looking to be a bit better so fingers crossed for next weekend.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Nice bird images, Neil.

Yes, starlings were a nuisance in our garden when I was a kid. These days, I tend to only see them in supermarket car parks!

I'm jealous that you get bullfinches in your garden, Neil!

HI Neil,

Love that Bullfinch pair, shots like that are some compensation for the lack of Butterflies at the moment.

All the best,
Trevor.

I echo what everyone else has said Neil Also it's good to hear numbers of Bullfinch are on the up - now if other species showed similar upturns (like Tree Sparrow)that would be great.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for the comments David, Mark, Trevor and Wurzel, appreciated as always

I first saw the Bullfinches in the garden a few years ago - just the one pair to start with - and they have been regular visitors ever since with at least 3 pairs seen together this year. I have also seen increasing numbers out and about around my local patch over the past couple of years.

Friday 10th March

Well, it seems that just about every other UKB member has seen some butterflies lately, particularly during yesterdays lovely spring day that was enjoyed over most of the country. Yours truly was stuck in the office at work and my lunch break is too short to get out anywhere for a look so I have still to see my first butterfly of the season.

At least the milder weather has started to wake things up in the garden and increasing numbers of spring moths have been coming to the trap,
The weekend weather looks like it is changing for the worst but tomorrow might not be too bad...fingers crossed.

Bye for now,

Neil

Shame you missed out, Neil (though the moths at least provided SOME recompense).

You may well have another chance tomorrow if the forecast is right.

Sorry you missed out Neil But it will make your sightings even sweeter when they come
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers David and Wurzel, unfortunately the weather tuned for the worst over the weekend so I still haven't seen a butterfly.

As you say David, the moths do provide some recompense, in fact I am finding these denizens of the dark hours increasingly fascinating...speaking of which,

Monday 13th March

After the lovely spring day we had last Thursday during which I was stuck in the office, the clouds rolled in on Friday, and Saturday saw us under a thick layer of dark grey overcast which made it feel rather gloomy around here. Sunday was little better and although the sun did make a few attempts to warm things up it wasn't out for long enough to have much effect. I went round to my Moms house on Sunday to do a bit of tidying up in her garden and took the chance to have a look around the park by her house which is where I often have my fist sightings, but without success.

I put the moth trap out in the garden last night and lo and behold the skies cleared which led to the temperature dropping like a stone and with a bright full moon and a bit of a breeze, conditions were not looking good for moths.
I was pleased therefore to have half a dozen Common Quakers and Hebrew Characters plus a couple of Oak Beauties which were my first of this species this year and are one of my favourite spring moths
And wouldn't you just know it...back to work today and the sun was back out to tease me

Bye for now,

Neil.

It must be so frustrating seeing us southerners flaunting all those Commas, sorry . I'm sure your time will come though and your moths do make a nice change from the norm.

I have to say Mother Nature really does have a wonderful way of using drab colours to make something quite beautiful doesn't She, those oak Beauties really living up to their name