Yesterday evening I went out with the Skinner trap, for the first time this year and although the generator gave me cause for concern and threatened to cut the session short (it was behaving just like yours, George) it all managed to keep working and a successful evening had. I really should have trapped in one of the under recorded squares, but for the first of the season I chose a familiar site instead, so went to my beloved Werfa colliery.
The weather was pretty good, with thin cloud, a starting temperature of 10.60 C at 19:10, when the trap was lit, dropping to 5.00 C by 00:15, when I switched off. Although breezy, that didn't cause any problems and the moths kept coming despite it.
In all I had 21 identified species and good numbers of individuals, including an amazing 147 Common Quaker. The full list is as follows.
Ypsolopha ustella x 1
Diurnea fagella x 13
Yellow Horned x 6
March Moth x 18
Shoulder Stripe x 2
Mottled Grey x 6
Early Tooth-striped x 5
Early Thorn x 1
Pale Brindled Beauty x 1
Brindled Beauty x 2
Oak Beauty x 16
The Engrailed x 5
Small Quaker x 16
Powdered Quaker x 1
Common Quaker x 147
Clouded Drab x 41
Twin-spotted Quaker x 12
Hebrew Character x 7
Grey Shoulder-knot x 1
Early Grey x 3
The Chestnut x 1
I think I know what is wrong with the generator, George. I'll get to work on the problem today and if I'm correct and the fix works, I'll be in touch with you directly, to let you know.
Well done Mark, you did better than me. I left my 2 actinics in woodland at South View, Tongwynlais and caught 12 species. The only moth of note was Semioscopis avellanella, which is approx. the 20th county record (inc. the recent one at Rudry).
ReplyDeleteYesterday I found an early Water Carpet on the toilet block at Parc Cefn Onn, Llanishen.
I'll be very interested to hear the generator diagnosis - needless to say I haven't got mine fixed!
Problem cured (I think) expect an email soon. I thought I saw something looking like S. avellanella, but as often happens, it disappeared before I could have a good look at it. There was also a pug I intended taking a closer look at, but it disappeared before I could do so. It was probably Brindled but might have been Oak-tree Pug.
ReplyDeleteI had two Brindled last night. A bit early for Oak-tree?
ReplyDeleteAlso two Double-striped in my garden trap.