Mynydd Aberdar Again

Being determined to take advantage of the unusually mild nights, I was determined to get out with the Skinner trap on Friday night. I had originally planned to trap a site in the valley bottom, but with the prospect of thunder storms approaching from the south after midnight, I decided to get up high, where I could have advance warning of their approach, allowing time to sort out the catch and pack up.

I started the trap at 21:30 and trapped until 01:00, by which time the regular booms of distant thunder could be heard to the east and south of me. At 14.40 C, the unusually mild night proved to be not that unusual and perhaps not surprisingly, very similar to that of the week before. In the end, I had 63 species, the highlights of which were 5 Diamond-back Moths, Gold Spangle and a Northern Rustic.
Having packed up early, it was galling to see the thunder storms stay away to the east, the first rain only reaching here at around dawn.

My 22 watt actinic garden trap did almost as well, having the advantage of running all night, with a large catch of around 60 species, the undoubted highlight of which being a single Catoptria falsella. There aren't many records of this species in Glamorgan and this was certainly a first for me.

Catoptria falsella