Mainly moths

When I first started running a moth trap in the garden in 2005 one of the species in Lewington that I dreamed of trapping was Tree-lichen Beauty. Well nearly ten years on I have finally succeeded! This stunning emerald green moth was trapped overnight on the 19th and was the moth highlight of the year so far for me, although it was probably not the rarest moth in the trap! Whilst sorting through the micro's I came across one that I was unfamiliar with. In itself this is not unusual as I am definitely a novice in this area, so I took a few pictures for later examination and got on with sifting through the trap. On later examination I identified the micro in question as Acleris umbrana (Dark-streaked Button) that is listed as rare in the micro book, so I hastily took some better pictures and checked the various county and national websites to be certain, before contacting the ever reliable Paul Chapman who was able to confirm I was not hallucinating. As far as I have been able to establish this is a genuinely rare moth in Sussex with only four records prior to 2010 per Pratt (although Derek Lee at Bracklesham has trapped 3 this year and there will almost certainly be other records I am unaware of). A couple of the recent records in Kent and Sussex have been speculated as being of immigrant origin, a theory which the Bracklesham individuals would appear to support, however the Levels hold a significant amount of Blackthorn which is the primary food plant for this species so it is possible that there is a local population - I may need to get mobile...

The past week has been absolute quality on the moth front all round with new species for the garden and year lists each time the trap has been in operation. Numbers and highlights as follow:
13th July - 39 macro's of 18 species included new for the year Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Marbled Beauty, Marbled Green, and White-spotted Pug. 39 micro's of 10 species included the purple and gold Pyrasta aurata.

15th July - 61 macro's of 30 species included new for the year Black Arches, Dark Sword-grass, Garden Tiger, Small Emerald, Spectacle, V-Pug, and Phoenix, the last named also being a new moth for the garden. 18 micro's of 9 species included new for the year Alucita hexadactyla (Twenty-plume moth) and Catoptria falsella.

17th July - 86 macro's of 27 species included Common Pug. 54 micro's of 14 species included a couple of the larger reed dwelling species Donacaula forficella and Donacaula mucronella as well as Acrobasis suavella, Agriphila tristella, Oegoconia caradjai (probable), and Spilonota ocellana (Bud moth).

19th July - 148 macro's of 37 species included the afore-mentioned Tree-lichen Beauty as well as a couple of other new moths for the garden in the shape of Chevron and Peacock. Garden year ticks were Common Emerald, Dun-bar, Silver-Y, and Yellow-tail. 49 micro's of 14 species included Acleris umbrana, Blastobasis adjustella, Cataclysta lemnata (Small China-mark), Mompha propinquella, and Oegoconia quadripuncta.

 21st July - 137 macro's of 28 species included new for the year Gold-spot and Least Yellow Underwing. 93 micro's of 17 species included Apodia bifractella, Emmelina monodactyla (Common Plume), Pammere fasciana, Pleuroptya ruralis (Mother of Pearl), Rhyaconia pinicolana (a cream and orange stunner), and Yponomeuta evonymella (Bird-cherry Ermine).
23rd July - 141 macro's of 30 species included new for the year Blood-vein, Cloaked minor, Knot Grass, Oak Eggar (a female), and Rosy Footman. 38 micro's of 10 species included 2 Amblyptilia acanthadactyla (Beautiful Plume).

At the time of writing the garden moth list for the year stands at 140 macro species and 53 micro species from an overall catch of 2004 individuals over 54 nights. This represents the most intensive trapping I have done in the garden since 2005 so it will be interesting to do some comparisons at the end of the year. Elsewhere of note was a Pine Hawkmoth roosting on the wall at my workplace in St Leonards on the 24th.
Out on the levels a Brown Hare remains an enjoyable summer resident and I undertook an hour or so of fishing on the evening of the 19th to see what species I could add to the Pan patch list - The answer was, unsurprisingly perhaps, Roach and Rudd, I also saw a Common Carp of double figure proportions cruising the dykes along New Bridge road.
On the bird front it has been very quiet over the past week with no obvious passage species. Dragons though remain in abundance with a good afternoon on the 17th recording 9+ Brown Hawker, 2 Southern Hawker, Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, Ruddy Darter, and the usual resident damsels.