My only visit to Morton Bagot this week was a brief check of the flash field on Thursday. It contained a Common Sandpiper, which was new for the site this year, at least three Green Sandpipers with probably more hidden from view, and a pair of Teal.
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Green Sandpiper |
The reason for the brevity of the visit was that I focussed on Bannams Wood in another failed attempt to see Purple Emperor. I did at least see a Silver-washed Fritillary and a Southern Hawker, both of which were my first of the season.
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| Southern Hawker |
Another highlight was a calling Red Kite, the strongest evidence yet that they are breeding in the wood.
So on Friday night I was trying to decide whether to pay another visit to the patch or to put the moth trap out on what was clearly going to be a warm, still evening.
The moths won, and consequently I experienced my highest ever trap total of at least 472 moths. I say at least because several escaped as I was hauling the trap into the utility room, and subsequently I lost count as more and more Garden Grass Veneers came out of the woodwork.
Those little grass moths dominated in numbers, and I got at least 275 of them, plus 60 Water Veneers. Much of the morning was spent catching and removing them from the house.
Fortunately there was a little bit of quality and so new for the garden were a Wax Moth (a micro that is as large as any macro), and Tischeria ekebladella (a tiny moth Lyn spotted in the toilet bowl in time to allow me to rescue it).
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| Wax Moth |
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| Tischeria ekebladella |
Other noteworthy ones were Gypsonoma oppressana (second for the garden), Mottled Beauty (first since 2019), and Latticed Heath (first since 2020).
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| Gypsonoma oppressana |
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| Mottled Beauty |
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| Latticed Heath |
Having not trapped moths for a couple of weeks there were also plenty new for the year.
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