Sunday September 12 - Moths to the rescue

It has to be said that birding at Morton Bagot can be a little predictable. This morning the conditions were excellent, bright with high cloud and hardly a breath of wind. The first few Meadow Pipits of autumn were making their way south, mostly only heard. The majority of the warblers have now departed, leaving only Chiffchaffs (14 of them), and the odd Blackcap.

Also still around are at least two Whinchats, and several local House Martins and Swallows, while an excited party of 21 of the latter headed determinedly south, the youngsters twittering constantly.

Whinchat at Netherstead

The flash field was remarkably quiet; just 10 Teal, nine Snipe, two Green Sandpipers, and a Grey Heron. Perhaps a raptor had caused a clear out. The only ones I saw were a couple of Sparrowhawks bothering the local Long-tailed Tits along the Morton Brook.

Southern Hawker

A few dragonflies and butterflies were on the wing, but just usual residents. My most unexpected find was in a field corner where soil had been dumped, which now sported a crop of extraordinary tall flowering plants.

Great Mullein ?

Not being a botanist, my identification is based on a trawl through my various books.

Fortunately, moths are a lot harder to predict, and the last few days have been very entertaining.

Since Friday, I have added five species to my garden/life list. These have ranged from the very common (how have I not had one before?), to the scarce (possibly a fourth for Warwickshire). Most were micros, and the first was very small indeed. On Friday morning, my only trap being an open bathroom window, I noticed a speck on the wall as I cleaned my teeth. Further investigation revealed that it was a tiny moth.

Gracillaria syringella

The photo gives no idea of scale, so to assist with this I ask you to bear in mind that the plastic lid it is resting in is approximately the diameter of a one pence coin, and the moth hardly fills it. Without the aid of the camera or a hand lens the colours and pattern are impossible to see. As usual I consulted my reference books and was a little disappointed to find the moth described as widespread and very common. Having said that, two moth-ers I shared the photo with on Twitter both said they hadn't seen one either.

With the overnight temperature on Friday night set to drop no lower than 15 degrees I put the trap out and awaited developments. I awoke to find about 70 moths inside, and soon came across a good one.

Antler Moth

The Antler Moth is a medium sized macro moth which is not infrequent in the county. Apparently it prefers upland grassland (not an obvious habitat around here), but will obviously make do with lowland grass. I couldn't see any records for the Redditch area, so its not too surprising that I haven't caught one before.

Also in the trap was a pyralid called Nephopterix angustella. This was the rare one. Don't imagine I knew instantly what it was. My best guess on catching it, was that it might be a late example of Phycita roborella, many of which I've caught this year. Fortunately I soon realised it was something else, and actually it was quite distinctive.

Nephopterix angustella

The key feature is the little line of raised scales about half way along the moth. The moth itself is about 10 millimetres long which is fairly large for a micro. My book described it as very local and possibly spreading, while the 2016 Warwickshire moth report refers to two in the county that year as being the second and third for Warwickshire. I couldn't find any further mention of the species in subsequent reports.

Several other moths in the trap were year-ticks, the best being my first Spruce Carpet since 2018. However, you never quite know when you're finished. Late on Saturday afternoon I stepped outside and disturbed a small moth onto the brickwork of the house. I suspected this was Eudonia angustea because of its narrow body shape, but as it was part of the tricky crambid group I asked for online confirmation from @UkMothid. 

Eudonia angustea

The expert quickly agreed. This is a common and widespread moth which typically appears in September. It is quite small, the rock-face it appears to be clinging to is actually a magnified house brick. Common and widespread it might be, but a first is a first.

Still I wasn't finished. I always check the trap indoors, and inevitably a few moths sneak out and disappear into the house. So when I turned on the light in the utility room on Saturday evening several moths were fluttering about. Among them was an attractive micro from the enormous family tortricidae. On closer examination I found that, at long last, I had caught a Garden Rose Tortrix. As the name suggests, every garden should have one. In fact our garden, with its several roses, should be knee deep in them. But it's not.

Garden Rose Tortrix

This species' main feature is its ability to appear in a wide variety of forms and colours. The one I caught is apparently the most common form. 

I also grabbed a very tiny moth which at present can only be identified as Bryotropha ag. It may well turn out to be another good one, but I'll need the recorder to determine the species in due course.

The full list was:

Yponomeuta ag 2,    Ruddy Streak 1,    Bryotropha ag 1,    White-shouldered House Moth 1,    Brown House Moth 1,    Garden Rose Tortrix 1 (nfg),    Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix 1,    Nephopterix angustella 1 (nfg),    Eudonia angustea 1 (nfg),    Garden Carpet 1,    Spruce Carpet 1 (nfy),        Common Marbled Carpet 1,    Green Carpet 1 (nfy),    Double-striped Pug 2,    Brimstone Moth 2,      Light Emerald 4,    Dusky Thorn 4,    Angle Shades 1 (nfy),    Flounced Rustic 1,    Common Wainscot 1,    Copper Underwing ag 2,    Vine's Rustic 4,    Antler Moth 1 (nfg),    Pale Mottled Willow 1,    Large Yellow Underwing 33,    Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 1,    Lesser Yellow Underwing 4,    Square-spot Rustic 3,    Setaceous Hebrew Character 5 (nfy).