Saturday May 26

After yesterday's rain the evening was overcast and so not too cold. I was up early again and quickly found my first two new moths. An Alder Moth on the wall of the house was a lifer, and was pleasingly easy to identify.

Alder Moth

Living close to Ipsley Alders, this moth's presence didn't come as a great surprise. As I opened the door a second moth flew off. I noted where it had gone and managed to flush it again. This time it landed on the fence and proved to be a Flame Carpet. I did record this species in the bathroom last year.

Flame Carpet

Several other moths were found in the immediate vicinity and in the actual trap. I will list them all at the end of this post. One egg box contained a pug which promptly flew to the fascia above the door of the utility room. It could be a Common Pug, but I am wondering about Wormwood Pug. I am awaiting assistance on that one. The assistance came from Mike Southall who has confirmed it was just a Common Pug.

Common Pug

Further exploration of the box produced another lifer; a Chamomile Shark.

Chamomile Shark

Reading up as far as I can, this moth is very similar to the Shark, but its flight period is earlier and it seems to exhibit the correct markings at the wing-tip. It is the scarcer of the two in Warwickshire.

Another moth in the trap was a really attractive one, and another lifer; A Buff Ermine.

Buff Ermine

This seems to be quite a common moth, but a tick's a tick.

Next came a bit of a nightmare. A rather attractive and distinctive moth which I thought would be a doddle to identify.

Ingrailed Clay

However, after mulling it over all afternoon I think I have the answer. The moth is an Ingrailed Clay, described in the books as highly variable in appearance. You don't get this trouble with birds.

I had thought I had found them all so went indoors to show Lyn the Buff Ermine. I returned to find that I had missed quite a few moths hiding in the nooks and crannies of the box. One of these was new for the year, but was also familiar from previous years. A Common Marbled Carpet.

Common Marbled Carpet

It started to rain quite hard, so I put up the parasol to protect my captures. On the underside of the canopy was my second Orange Footman of the year. I now know them to be relatively common following a population explosion in the last ten years.

Before I get onto the full list, here is a photo of a micro on the side of the shed, which I photographed yesterday afternoon. I'm afraid it shows up the limitations of my camera, and I don't yet know what it was.

So the full list for last night was:

Light Brown Apple Moth - 1
Bee Moth - 1
Common Pug - 1
Flame Carpet - 1
Common Marbled Carpet - 1
May Highflyer - 1
Orange Footman - 1
Buff Ermine - 1
Ingrailed Clay - 1
Heart and Dart - 19
Shuttle-shaped Dart - 3
Flame Shoulder - 4
Alder Moth - 1
Chamomile Shark - 1

A total of 37 moths of 14 species.