Tony, Paul and myself went for a search around the Ivy clumps along the country lanes at Little Blakenham last night, the same area we went to last year (on the 29th September, so a bit earlier) where we had a good count of 22 species including both Dusky lemon and Pale lemon sallows. However this year the species count and the number of moths seen was much lower, with 11sp on the Ivy, Herald on Blackberries and a Mallow moth flying around its food-plant, not surprisingly some Mallow! Interesting species noted on the Ivy included L-Album wainscot, Silver Y (2), Sallow and Barred sallow.
We were a bit on the late side this year to catch the Ivy at its best, quite a lot of it had finished flowering, possibly why we didn’t see so many moths. A breeze also picked up whilst we were there, this making it feel colder than when we first arrived. Certainly a nice big clump that was in full bloom didn’t seem to have much on it. This was in complete contrast to the patch in my own garden that I checked once I got home, as you will read in my other report!
Neil