Although this year I have tried to steer a course back to birds and away from moths, I'm still trapping in the garden and Friday night's events were so remarkable that I have to start there.
Obviously the warm night would mean a decent haul was likely. I was up before dawn and sure enough there were lots of moths. My final count was 276 moths of 50 species, but it was one moth in particular which deserves top billing.
Micro moths can be very confusing, and some cannot be identified in the field. Even the identifiable ones are a challenge. Their tininess means that either a hand lens, or in my case the camera lens is necessary to bring out their true beauty. It also helps that ID apps can provide an irresistible shortcut.
So pointing the camera at a little moth clinging to an egg box I was impressed by a startling combination of black, white and orange which looked completely unfamiliar. I pointed the phone at it and was told it was Cydia interscindana. My reaction? Never heard of it. I potted it for further study.
 |
| Cydia interscindana (Beautiful Juniper Piercer) |
I had a whole lot of other moths to sort through, so the strange moth was placed in the fridge to cool down. I posted a message and image on the Bluesky app and carried on counting.
During the morning my computer battery needed powering up, so I watched some cricket. By about 14:00 I had started to suspect it might be a County first, and the recorder confirmed that that was the case and that a specimen would not be required.
I decided to take some more photos, and in the absence of anyone expressing the wish to come and see it I allowed it to escape. Maybe micros the size of a grain of rice weren't as desirable to pot-twitchers.
Two hours later I discovered that they were, and my name was mud. It turned out that the species was only discovered in the UK in 2014 when one was found at Lydd in Kent. Originally assumed to be a migrant, further records from the London area and some of the home counties led to the belief that the species was adventive (in insect terms that means accidentally transported to the UK on its food plant, in this case Juniper, as an egg or caterpillar). However it got here, there have been none any nearer than Berkshire and Hertfordshire, so this was the first for the whole Midlands let alone Warwickshire.
The rest of the catch produced three more garden ticks: a beautiful July Highflyer, a Minor Shoulder-knot (hot on the heals of several at Spernal STW which had been my first), and a micro called Gypsonoma aceriana.
 |
| July Highflyer |
 |
| Minor Shoulder-knot |
 |
| Gypsonoma aceriana (according to Obsidentify) |
Including the garden firsts I added 21 species to the garden year list.
Back to today. Morton Bagot is in the grip of summer. Even the reappearance of some welcome mud added only three Little Egrets (two of which were recently fledged juveniles and had no doubt come from Arrow Valley Lake), a Green Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover, a returning pair of Teal, and on Saturday a pair of Avocets courtesy of John Chidwick.
 |
| Adult Little Egret flanked by its juveniles |
Butterflies on the wing included several rather bright Painted Ladies which I suspect were part of the new generation, and a couple of fresh Gatekeepers.
 |
| Gatekeeper |
This year's birthday presents included A Field Guide to the Grasshoppers and Allies of Great Britain and Ireland, and I was keen to try it out.
 |
| Common Green Grasshopper |
 |
| Meadow Grasshopper |
I can't promise birds will feature prominently over the next few weeks, but I'll do my best.
No comments:
Post a Comment