Creigiau - 24 November

Box out on Thursday night for Winter GMS. Minimum  temperature of 5.2C but a bitterly cold NE wind. Two visitors - Yellow-line Quaker and my first December Moth of the year.

Death's-head larva

I received the following email today:

Hi Barry,

Mark Winder passed your detail on to me and asked me to send you the photo of a Death-head Hawk-moth caterpillar we found at Three Cliffs in September.  Apologies for the delay in sending it to you.

One of my Beaver Scouts saw the caterpillar as we were coming off the board walk on our way back from the beach, it was about 13:00 in the afternoon on Saturday 17^th September.  It was a nice warm day and the caterpillar was in the grass about 30 meters from the board walk and not far from the undergrowth.  It was alive and well, so we did not disturb it. 

We did not touch it, but did include an adult figure in the shot so we could see its size, it was incredible we spent the rest of the day trying to identify it from the photo!!

Best wishes Penny (Gruffydd)

Red Admiral

No moths in the trap for Winter GMS on Friday night, but a Red Admiral enjoying a rare spell of sunshine on the wall today. This beats last year's record (13 November) as my latest sighting for Red Admiral.

Parc Slip

Disappointing catch this morning given that it didn't drop below 12 last night - the mildest since mid-September. Only 3 moths with the first December moth of the year and the first Phyllonorycter messaniella for a couple of years joined by yet another November agg.

Creigiau - 13 November

First box for the Winter GMS. A very mild night (min temp 9.7C) but not a lot about - 10 moths of 6 species. Highlights - another Merveille du Jour and the first Red-line Quaker of the year.

Gowerton Sunday 13th

This morning produced only 5 species, in spite of the mild night, but one was this surprise Gem. Also this Blastobasis sp. which looked small (7mm) plain silvery and extremely lively, jumping about like a mad thing. Unfortunately suffered an extinction event whilst trying to pot it. Maybe lacticolella, or maybe not?

Blastobasis sp?

Gem. Male

Creigiau - 03 November

Final box of the summer GMS campaign, and although the weather was mild (& wet) I was disappointed to find only 6 moths in/around the trap - Cypress Carpet, Merveille du Jour, November Moth agg (2), Spruce Carpet and Yellow-line Quaker.

Parc Slip

Only 8 species in the trap last night but still managed another new one for the site with my first ever streak (as it were). Nothing else exciting really - spruce carpet, red-green carpet, feathered thorn, green-brindled crescent, red and yellow-line quakers and a handful of Epirrita sp.

When working out on the reserve later i disturbed this micro too - it looks well-marked but i'm still struggling with it annoyingly...