I’ve just been checking a couple of moths I boxed last night. One of them proved to be a lead-coloured drab. I was wondered if anyone else had seen any this year (my last one was in 2011) and looked up the moth blog, only to find there was a new blog in from Jon Clifton along the same lines. An eery coincidence..
Nothing very unusual otherwise, except for the sudden appearance of early thorn (10), shoulder striped(11) and red chestnut.
Good numbers of orange underwing at Westleton on Sunday. I have yet to see light orange underwing and don’t know the right spot in Wolves Wood! Brimstone and comma at Halesworth – and good numbers of small tortoiseshell and peacock.
I’ve also seen several of the busy solitary bee Anthophora plumipes around the garden. It’s changed its scientific name twice in the last few years, and its common name at least once (it used to be the hairy-legged mining bee but is now the hairy-footed flower bee!). But it is still an engaging creature, like a very active and rather small bumble.
Tony H.
Tony,
Re Light Orange Underwing in Wolves Wood. They can be flying anywhere on sunny days, but the best bet is the ride that runs parallel to the road next to this year’s coppice in the south-east corner of the wood. If you are limited for time, it is best to walk anti-clockwise around the trail to get to it quicker. I took the large block of aspen to the north of the path out of the coppice rotation in 2008 specifically with this species in mind. Take a slow approach to any puddles, wet bootprints or the pond at the eastern end of that ride as they will often come down to drink. More often than not, they spot you first and if their forewings are closed they are incredibly cryptic. There is a ditch in the north-east corner of the wood that runs at ninety degrees north to the trail. A couple of years ago I had four individuals on the ground there. Good luck. Be interested to hear how you get on – positive or not.
Thanks for this, Mark! I’ll be watching the weather forecast for the next week and hoping for a sunny day.
Tony.
The moth I saw last weekend was at the western end of that ride, where there were some damp patches of ground which it was taking in moisture from. Binoculars are useful as they can fly quite high! I think they appear smaller and darker than Orange underwing in flight. Orange underwing is not known from this wood at present, there are Birch trees so it could be around but I’ve not found it there after many years of looking.
No Red chestnut, Early thorn or Shoulder stripe at IGC yet this year, although Shoulder stripe is quite a rare species and not seen every year. The foodplant, Dog rose is scarce here.
Neil