Pound for pound there are few more eye-catching moths than the merveille du jour; wings like mint icing-sugar! My first in the garden trap this year was 3rd Oct, along with the first green-brindled crescent and what seems to be an influx of Vine’s rustic. Last night (4th) produced the first red-line quaker and chestnut. Commonest moth by far is lunar underwing. No obvious migrants still, except the occasional white-point, which probably isn’t.
After having kept a record of numbers and dates for the last few years, absences take on an unexpected significance. This autumn I’m most worried about my large wainscots, which still haven’t put in an appearance.
Finally, I was inspired by Neil’s comments to look at my large patch of ivy blossom. So far (after about four nights over the past week) I’ve seen nothing, even when the trap has been attracting fair numbers of moths. Of course, it could be my ageing eyes…
I have also been checking our Ivy flowers Tony over several nights and no sign of a moth so far!
Mark
Thanks Mark! I’ll give it another try tonight, if it’s not too cold. It would be interesting to know what other people are finding.