As the warm weather during the week had produced some migration activity, it was decided at short notice to change the venue for the field meeting for this week from Maidscross hill Lakenheath to Aldeburgh beach. There was some initial worry that the wind could be an issue at the site as this has caused problems before in previous years, but that was unfounded as upon arrival at the site it was still very warm and humid with only a gentle breeze. 6 traps were deployed around the Haven house, covering the coastal grassland, scrub and some reedbed/wetland areas. Moths soon started piling in and we were kept very busy recording the species up until around 12.30a.m when activity slowed and we decided to call it a night, packing up all the traps and still adding more species until 2a.m. After most of the micro identifications were sorted, my list finished up at 176sp, a very good total considering that it is the middle of August, again my feeling is that that the season is running a bit later than recent years and this is more evidence for that.
What of the migrants? We did get some, best moth probably the single Cydia amplana, but we also had a few N.noctuella, P.xylostella, Silver Y, a Dark sword grass and a Y.rorrella. Not to be outdone were the quality resident species recorded also, including a few I can’t remember seeing at this site before when we’ve trapped there. These included a Marbled green and a Coast dart. Other notables included White-mantled wainscot (a female), Magpie (a few flying at dusk as well as at light, seems a scarce species these days), Bactra robustana (very common), Dog’s tooth, Gold spot, Webb’s wainscot, Lesser cream wave, Cosmopterix lienigiella, Saltern ear, Pima boisduvaliella, Dark spinach (a few), Bordered sallow, Melissoblaptes zelleri, Silky wainscot, Bulrush wainscot, Reed dagger, Crescent and the best micro of the night a Ypsolopha horridella, a new moth for some.
Overall an excellent night’s recording. We can only hope it continues for a little while longer.
Neil