After getting the go-ahead from Beccles Town Council to run moth traps on Beccles Common, I decided to take the traps there this evening. Not the best of days, it was very cool after the heavy rain during the day, but not having trapped there before, it was an opportunity to weigh up the site and the possibilities for the future. I chose the woodland area which has a good mix of species including mature oak, poplar, aspen, birch & sycamore. Very easy site to trap and even after the rain, no mud. Looking forward to going there again on a better night. No great quantity of moths but in 2 hours trapping, I was surprised to get 13 species including all the 7 more common Orthosias (including Lead-coloured Drab), 2 Pugs including Oak-tree, Early Tooth-striped and my first Prominent of the year which was Lesser Swallow.
So first Swallow of the year was not the bird but a moth!
Brian
Catches in my garden at Hollesley have been extremely poor recently. I’ve been lucky if I get more than 10 moths and very little other than the Orthosias. As for Swallows, well I got my first pair back on Saturday along with the first Cuckoo. Better on birds than moths at present.
First Swallow here Friday 13th. Double striped pug same day, but indoors! Haven’t trapped since 16 March.
Not trapped here in Ipswich since the 12th, when I had a pitiful 15 moths of 7sp, nothing out of the ordinary. April has been very disappointing so far with 19sp recorded. I had 30sp in March.