Recent Ivy searching at IGC – best night’s recording bettered?

I’ve been checking the Ivy patch at home regularly since it came into flower and up until the night of the 4th it has been fairly quiet. Even the warm stormy night of the 3rd only brought in 11 moths of 6 species. Went out to check at around 8.30p.m. on the 4th and the first moth spotted on the blooms was a Dotted chestnut, a new moth for the site as well as the first one I’ve actually recorded myself anywhere! What a surprise, I couldn’t believe my eyes! A quick check of other flowers revealed the patch was absolutely covered in moths, so a quick dash back inside the house to collect more pots and my notebook then I was back out counting what was there. Thought it might be of interest to produce the full list below.

Dotted chestnut – 1
Chestnut – 55
Yellow-line quaker – 12
Barred sallow – 7
Pink-barred sallow – 7
Angle shades – 7
Square-spot rustic – 2
Lesser yellow underwing – 4
Large yellow underwing – 4
L-Album wainscot – 6
Large ranunculus – 1
Autumnal rustic – 1
Pine carpet – 2
E. monodactyla – 1
Red-green carpet – 3
Feathered ranunculus – 1
Lunar underwing – 1
Dark chestnut – 1
Grey shoulder knot – 1
Green brindled crescent – 1
Dusky-lemon sallow – 1 (first site record of one on Ivy here, a quite yellow example that had me scratching my head for a short while)

21 species recorded, think that’s my highest species count in one night on the Ivy here with some real quality species. As I said in my previous blog, I wonder whether the rain has brought the moths out?
Now going out to check the patch again to see if I can add to the Ivy species total here, maybe with a Crimson speckled?

Neil