Lee Mount - 2nd November

Just one moth tonight which came early on to the lighted window and stayed all evening - and what a beauty !

Mottled Umber

 

Then just about to turn the lights off and this one turned up on the front door. Looking quite different from the one above but think this too must be a Mottled Umber and looking a bit worn and much darker than the one above.

 

Lee Mount - 31st October

An interesting evening with the light on inside and moths on the windows and window frames.

 Silver Y

 

 Red-green Carpet underside - with the same moth below

 Twenty-plume Moth

 

 2 different moths above and below - wonder if these are both Tachystola acroxantha ? Quite small and only c7mm wing length and similar to the one Charlie identified for me on from 15th October.

Lee Mount - 29th October

Feathered Thorn x 5 last night and all within less than a meter of each other - all five below.

Feathered Thorn x 5 individuals

 

 

Also 2, which I think are November Moth agg, though they looked much paler than those earlier in the month this time showing pale underwing if someone can check them out. Think the wing could be too pointed for Winter Moth types ?

November Moth agg

 

 

Brick



Blair's Shoulder Knot, Lithophane leautieri. Red and Green Carpet, Chloroclysta siterata.

Two moths, Blair's Shoulder Knot today, still sheltering by the door. Plus, a Red and Green Carpet, which arrived on the 24 October stayed 2 days.

 Blair's Shoulder Knot.

Red and Green Carpet.

Detail for the above.

Feathered Thorn - Colotois pennaria

My first moth in several days. I got a few nice shots of it.

Lee Mount - 19th October

Just a few last night
Common Marbled Carpet x 2
November Moth agg x 2
Light-brown Apple-moth x 1
Red-green Carpet x 1

Red-green Carpet

 

Help with micro's....? also 3 micro's from last night struggling with - any help appreciated, though maybe the quality of shots could be better !

 Acleris type c12mm - amended - Acleris sparsana

 

 Above and below same moth and wondered about Ypsolopha sequella (amended)

Amended - Blastobasis adustella

Lee Mount

One micro from last night - a bit worn c10mm and wondered about Carcina quercana  maybe - amended below.

 Tachystola acroxantha

 

Not a lot else this week just one or two Red-green Carpets, November Moth agg, 1 Angle Shades and a few Common Marbled Carpets and a Silver Y

Bagworm Volunteers.

Andy,

I was with Charlie on 14th of October when we spotted all the Bagworms. It was a really good day out.

If you are looking/asking for volunteers for the Bagworm count, I'd be happy to be one. Assuming my health and medical appointments don't clash with it. Oh, sorry, I mean my social life. Ha!

If you would like my email address, ask Charlie. Although, you may have mine in the original contact I made. some time ago.

Bagworms

Last Sunday I was out on a fungi foray with the Halifax Scientific Society - it was national fungi day. We walked from Shaw park at Holywell Green and along Holywell Brook with a drystone wall boundary along much of the path. A casual glance at the wall revealed a bagworm case which I was confident was Lichen Case-bearer as it's around 300 yards from the colony discovered in spring. Straight away other (non moth-ing) members of the group located more cases - they were easy to find! I took two cases home and was surprised to find they contained what appeared to be fully grown larvae.
It must be a widespread and common species in the Holywell Green area and deserves further study of its distribution.

Silver Y Autographa gamma, Pale Form.

A Silver Y today. Sadly, it's been badly burned by an MV lamp. I get so many moths here damaged like that. I wish that some people who were interested in moths would put a shield around the lamp. You wouldn't want to put your finger on it. Actually, I wish it was a legal requirement that all moth traps had to have a guard round the bulb. Oh well, I can dream.

Some of these photos were taken with flash, others with available sunlight.

One of the worst examples 

of damage I've seen.

Painted Lady (migration)

Fantastic programme on BBC 4 last night(10th Oct) - an hour and a half on Painted Lady migration.
If anyone gets chance to watch it on catch-up or another showing it's well worth it especially about the scientific work which has gone on as to why they migrate !

If you missed it you can watch it here.......


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07yqfkq/the-great-butterfly-adventure-africa-to-britain-with-the-painted-lady

Moth Count

I've been tidying up my moth record on the computer. For what use it is to anyone, I've photographed 45 different moths this year so far. I don't think that's too bad without a trap really. Although I imagine those with traps go in to the 200s at a guess.

Stainland 6th to 9th Oct. 2016

A first for me; a Red-green Carpet - Chloroclysta siterata. I was hoping to see one and here it is, along with two moths I can't ID.
This morning was a good experience, the Red-green Carpet, a lacewing, a cranefly, a tiny snail and a Harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus, like the one David saw.

Red-green Carpet - Chloroclysta siterata

Now the first of two I can't ID, they are both quite worn.

I wondered if it was a Common Marbled Carpet but the few markings I see are not quite right. It's the right size/shape for a carpet. There seems to be hints of green brown / red on the costa bottom left side.

ID?

The next shot is poor quality. Our cat woke me at 3:30 am wanting to go out. I saw the moth below on the door. Like a trooper I got a camera, I wasn't fully awake. To get a good photo I'd have had to bring ladders from the cellar, so I held the camera up in the air and hoped. I know it's a hard one to ID, sorry.

ID?

Lee Mount - 7th October 2016

An interesting evening -  some nice ones turned up after that cool easterly eased and it was a more settled.

 Satellite hiding away

 

 Spruce Carpet

 

 Red-green Carpet (x 2)

 

Autumn Green Carpet - ? at least that's what I think it is as never had one before.

 

Also

Angle Shades x 1

Common Marbled carpet x 5

Light-brown Apple Moth x 1

November Moth agg x 1

ABH 70.095 BF1760 Red-green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata

1st October 2016   Not a consequence of  having the MV on but a casual  visitor to kitchen

Occupying mainly woodland habitats, the larval foodplants are various deciduous trees, especially oak (Quercus) and rowan (Sorbus aucuparia).


ABH 70.095 BF1760 Red-green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata

Cranefly

Just in case anyone is interested, there is a photo of a Cranefly emerging from it's Larval case on my blog:

http://gordonartphotoand3dsci-fi.blogspot.co.uk/

Lee Mount - 1st October

Just 3 moths last night in the very cool conditions with a >NE wind and clear sky
Common Marbled Carpet looking quite worn x 1
Silver Y x 1 was probably the same moth as the previous evening
1 Red-green Carpet

Lee Mount - 30th September

Struggled with 3 of the 4 moths found - especially the top two though I think I got there with the Spruce Carpet (?) and November Moth agg but the Brick/Chestnut type  - still can't be sure - it did have a bit of glossy sheen to it !

 Spruce Carpet

 

 Struggling with this one between Chestnut  and Brick c14mm wing length and initially leaning towards Dark Chestnut after comparison with Chestnut/Brick and the other Chestnuts....then advice from MH and DIC et al suggesting Chestnut is more likely mainly due to the shape of the wing which in Dark Chestnut would normally be much straighter and sharp pointed rather than slightly rounded as in this one. Just shows how tricky some species can be !.

 

 

 November Moth agg

 

Silver Y