Quiet and cold nights

Still cold here in the east, with a frost this morning and lows of 1.6c, there were just 12 moths in the trap.

On Saturday night it was a little warmer at 8c and so the trap was deployed. Sadly the wind ruined it and the species count wasn't worth bothering with.

I did pot up a new for year Nut-tree Tussock though.

During the day I popped the EMP lure out for ther Emperor Moth, and within minutes there was one fluttering around it, potted up and calmed down for a quick photo, sadly it was the probably the most damaged of the trio! A further 2 came in after roughly half an hour, then the lure went back in the freezer (To as not to interupt the mating instincts any further).

Still cold and clear, maybe it'll pick up in a week or two.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 38 species

29/03/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Emperor Moth 1 [NFY] (To EMP Lure)

Nut-tree Tussock 1 [NFY]

 

Nut-tree Tussock

Emperor Moth

 

The trap takes a back seat.

A funny old week of weather last week, with some warm days, followed with some really chilly and breezy nights which has been utter crap for moths to light.

Fear not, because my secret weapon added (potentially) 2 new species for the year, and the kitchen and the bathroom yielded another two newbies.

Netting at dusk seems to always throw up a good moth or two and this week was no exception, with two Caloptilia species, one screams falconipennella, so that might be two in two weeks here which will be a garden tick.

 

In the bathroom was a Monpha and the kitchen harboured an Agonopterix, who needs a trap at this time of year, clearly not me as it's been rather a waste of electricity and early rises.

 

I did get a rather mint Red Chestnut though so it was all worth it.

 

Temperatures are rising again, but sadly not at night so it'll be back to dancing around the patio with a net, frolicking around like Mary Poppins!

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 36 species

25/03/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Red Chestnut 1 [NFY]

Clouded Drab 2

Common Quaker 3

Double-striped Pug 2

Hebrew Character 2

March Moth 2

Small Quaker 1

Twin-spotted Quaker 1

Micro Moths 

Agonopterix arenella 1 [NFY]

Caloptilia rufipennella 1 [NFY]

Mompha subbistrigella 1 [NFY]

Caloptilia falconipennella 1 (TBC) 

Caloptilia semifascia 1 (netted)

Diurnea fagella 3

Epiphyas postvittana 2 

Twin-spotted Quaker

Agonopterix arenella

Caloptilia falconipennella possibly

Caloptilia rufipennella

Mompha subbistrigella

Red Chestnut

The Perfect Night

Well after a very warm day for practically mid-March, and highs of 20 degrees, the night promised to be overcast and mild, and indeed it was.

With winds easing at dusk and complete cloud cover, the minimum all night was 11.5c.

Precipitation was present but it was nothing to worry about and the humidity had increased by the morning with the light showers.

 

A thin layer of Saharan dust was also visible on the rain guard, sadly no exotic migrants.

What there was though, were plenty of moths!

 

A full 19 species made it the best night of 2025 so far (hardly surprising given how hard going it's been this year so far) with 63 moths noted.

 

7 new species caught me up a bit on last years total as well, and I predicted a few hours before that I will probably, in the first time in nearly two decades, catch a Brindled Beauty before a Pale Brindled Beauty. 

That realisation became apparent last night before bedtime, with a speckled Brindled Beauty nestled deep within an egg tray crevice.

  

A third Oak Nycteoline for the year was noteworthy, as was a lovely fresh Herald and a couple of decent micros to boot.

Also both Chestnuts were new for the year.

 

Getting a little cooler at night now for the forseeable, but nothing too drastic.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 32 species

21/03/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Brindled Beauty 1 [NFY]

Chestnut 1 [NFY]

Dark Chestnut 1 [NFY]

Herald 1 [NFY]

Clouded Drab 6

Common Quaker 23

Double-striped Pug 2

Early Grey 4

Hebrew Character 7

March Moth 3

Oak Nycteoline 1

Twin-spotted Quaker 1

Micro Moths 

Acleris kochiella 1 [NFY]

Caloptilia semifascia 1 [NFY]

Mompha epilobiella 1 [NFY] 

Agonopterix alstromeriana 1 

Agonopterix heracliana 1

Diurnea fagella 4

Emmelina monodactyla 3

 

Oak Nycteoline

Acleris kochiella

Brindled Beauty

Caloptilia semifascia

Dark Chestnut & Chestnut

Double-striped Pug

Herald

Mompha epilobiella

 

Warming up once more

A very quiet spell during the middle part of March, things have improved recently though with species reaching the double figure mark, numbers still relatively low for the time of year though.

On Wednesday night the pick of catch were 3 newbies, Clouded Drab (3), Double-striped Pug (1) & Small Quaker (1) all three are around 2 weeks late compared with last years data.

 

I'm also still down on last years species count, in fact i'm 18 species behind on this same date.

 

Only the Clouded Drabs were worth photographing really, as the DSP shot off during its photoshoot, and the Small Quaker was horribly worn. 

A second Twin-spotted Quaker was also nice, a sandy-coloured specimen this time.

 

And a rather smart vivid Hebrew Character was also nice.

 

At dusk I netted two Lyonetia clerkella, one dark form and one light form.

 

Looks reasonable tonight after a somewhat muggy and murky day.

 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 25 species

19/03/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Clouded Drab 3 [NFY]

Double-striped Pug 1 [NFY]

Small Quaker 1 [NFY]

Common Quaker 4

Hebrew Character 3

March Moth 2

Pine Beauty 1

Twin-spotted Quaker 1

Micro Moths 

Lyonetia clerkella 2 [NFY] - Netted at Dusk

Diurnea fagella 2

Emmelina monodactyla 1 

Twin-spotted Quaker

Clouded Drab

Clouded Drabs

Hebrew Character

Lyonetia clerkella

A cooler night of late

By this morning, the temperature had dropped to 5 degrees, not ideal.

The catch reflected this, with just 4 species noted.

Luckily a Twin-spotted Quaker was new for the year.

 

Today in that warm sunshine, and once the breeze had abated, the ARG lure attracted a year first Pammene giganteana, the first species to a lure this year.

 

It's looking a bit rocky at night now moving forward.

 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 21 species

08/03/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Twin-spotted Quaker 1 [NFY]

Common Quaker 7

Hebrew Character 2

Micro Moths 

Pammene giganteana 1 [NFY]

Emmelina monodactyla 1 

 

Twin-spotted Quaker

Pammene giganteana

 

Similar sized catch, more variety!

A really nice catch of moths last night to my garden trap, with plenty more inside the trap come dawn.

 

Numbers of Common Quaker and Hebrew Character increase slightly and some quality filters through, with Oak Beauty, Oak Nycteoline and a stunning Pine Beauty, what a smashing little moth. 

Temperatures are starting to dip at night from now on, tonight might be the last chance for a good week.

 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 19 species

07/03/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Early Grey 1 [NFY]

Oak Beauty 1 [NFY]

Oak Nycteoline 1 [NFY]

Pine Beauty 1 [NFY]

Common Quaker 8

Dotted Border 1

Hebrew Character 6

March Moth 1

Micro Moths 

Agonopterix heracliana 1

Diurnea fagella 1

Emmelina monodactyla 1 

 

 

Oak Nycteoline

Oak Beauty

Early Grey

Pine Beauty

A couple of recent catches as temperatures soar in the daytime

A very warm spell came over us from Monday, but it was still very chilly at night with frosts.

By Wednesday night however, things improved overnight, and temperatures remained in double figures making the moths move once more.

A good selection over the past couple of nights, certainly a vast improvement on the whole of February.

 

Species I have yet to see (that I get annually) Early Moth, Chestnut, Dark Chestnut & Pale Brindled Beauty, some are getting worringly past their peak flight period. 

Spring Usher is a rarity here, dipping on it last year, will it reappear in time in 2025?

 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 15 species

05/03/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Common Quaker 1

Dotted Border 1

Hebrew Character 2

Micro Moths 

Agonopterix heracliana 1

06/03/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Common Quaker 6

Hebrew Character 4

March Moth 7

Micro Moths 

Diurnea fagella 1 [NFY]

Agonopterix alstromeriana 1

Agonopterix heracliana 2

Emmelina monodactyla 1 

Hebrew Character

Common Quaker

Diurnea fagella

That's better!

With a slightly warmer night and minimums of 12 degrees, Friday night looked rather good for a spot of mothy action.

With 13 moths of eight different species, that is about as good as it gets in my garden this time of year, very pleasing indeed.

Highlight was a nice fat female Black-spotted Chestnut, a regular but sporadic moth here appearing usually in late October to mid-November, and then again mid-February to late March.

Two Tortricodes alternella were noteworthy, I usually struggle with these and I might get 1 or 2 a year, so 2 in a night was rather good going, a predominantly woodland moth from my experience.

The macros and micros stand at 7 species a piece for the year.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 14 species

21/02/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Black-spotted Chestnut 1 [NFY]

Common Quaker 1 [NFY]

Dotted Border 1 [NFY]

Hebrew Character 2 [NFY]

Micro Moths 

Tortricodes alternella 2 [NFY]
Agonopterix alstromeriana 1
Agonopterix heracliana 4
Epiphyas postvittana 1 

Tortricodes alternella

Black-spotted Chestnut

Common Quaker

Dotted Border

Hebrew Character

Hebrew Character

3 weeks fallow

It's seemed like yonks since I last ran my garden moth trap, not far off a month ago to be precise.

The last two nights have been fairly mild, with lows of between 8 and 12 degrees, pretty good for the end of February, the caveat was the keen south winds we are experiencing currently.

Unfortunately that's pretty much knocked the numbers on the head, with just a couple of moths to show for it. 

The smart Satellite was nice, the March Moth was a bit ragged from the wind though!

Tonight is worth a shot, but it will be wet and still windy. 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 9 species

19/02/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Satellite 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths
 

Agonopterix heracliana 1 [NFY]

 

20/02/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

March Moth 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Agonopterix heracliana 1

Satellite

Agonopterix heracliana

March Moth

 

 

A couple of Acleris

A welcome duo of Acleris from last Wednesday, 1 in the garden and one disturbed whilst hedge cutting at work.

I ran the trap on Wednesday night as it was still 7 degrees at sundown, positively warm compared to any recent weather we have experienced lately. 

With just 2 moths by bedtime, it was switched off, by the morning there was a sharp frost, a good decision to pull the plug.

The ferrugana/notana was very welcome though and not common in my garden.

The trap remains off for the forseeable.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 6 species

29/01/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Winter Moth 1

Micro Moths

Acleris ferrugana/notana 1 [NFY]

Acleris cristana

Acleris ferrugana/notana

The 2nd window of opportunity

But it has been rather laclustre to say the least.

 

With just 1 moth on the 14th and 2 moths last night, very very slim pickings indeed. Thankfully as always this time of year, you can guarantee that most are new species for the year, 2/3rds in this case.

 

Trap has gone back in the shed now ready for the next warm spell.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 5 species

14/01/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Micro Moths

Emmelina monodactyla 1 [NFY]

15/01/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Winter Moth 1

Micro Moths

Acleris schalleriana 1 [NFY]

Acleris schalleriana

Emmelina monodactyla

 

2025 starts

Just a quick blog report today.

The weather has been very cold to start the year of 2025.

But a warm blip on Sunday prompted me to set the trap up.

Last night I managed 3 Moths of 3 species which was more than I expected given the buffeting winds and heavy rain, the temperature wasn't the issue (A steady 12 degrees all night).

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 3 species

05/01/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Winter Moth 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Agonopterix alstromeriana 1 [NFY]
Epiphyas postvittana 1 [NFY]

Winter Moth

Epiphyas postvittana

Best Moths of 2024 Roundup

2024 was a tough year for moths nationwide, numbers have slumped dramatically in the last few years, this year was quite possibly the lowest dip I've ever experienced, with most species represented by one or two individuals.
Common moths were at an all time low, but diversity was up with a large variety of species seen throughout the year.
 
The weather was challenging to say the least, with countless windy nights, not many warm and muggy nights to choose either. Rainfall was an issue, even during the peak of diversity.
 
Some really special moths were added to the garden list, some maybe expected eventually, but others completely out of the blue.

In total, a whopping 70 new additions, 23 were macro moths and 47 were micro moths. Not bad considering it was my 3rd full year of recording moths here (starting in September 2021).

2025 has a lot to live up to and I shall hope for higher numbers of the common moths otherwise we might be in serious trouble..
 

Happy mothing all and I will see you in the new year.
 
 
1. Small Eggar 13/03/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New species) It was very early on in the season to not only add a new species for the garden, but a new moth for my records. A wonderful Small Eggar. Even better, it was a female which are seldom seen to light.

2. Golden-rod Pug 11/04/24 - Chippenham Fen, East Cambs (New species) A rare Pug in the east it appears, with random dots here and there. It was great to get this dark form dissected and confirmed. It is a new record for me and the nature reserve. In July I got my 2nd example and added it to the garden list!

3. Grapholita internana 29/04/24 - Aspal Close Nature Reserve, West Suffolk (New species) A brief lunch time wander around this rather noisy nature reserve (right next to Mildenhall) yielded a single Graphilita internana. This is a new species of tortrix moth for me, associated with Gorse, the caterpillars feed within the seed pods.

4. Chrysoesthia sexguttella 09/05/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New species) A perfect night for a spot of netting on the patio yielded 10 species before the lights were on, this rather dull looking moth to the naked eye, becomes quite smart under magnification. A new species for my records.

5. Niditinea striolella 13/05/24 - Chippenham Fen, East Cambs (3rd for Cambs) The rarer of the two Nidtinea species was carefully dissected by Colin Plant. There are some records from Wicken Fen, but these are 40+ years old. Chippenham Fen does well for these small birds-nest moth species, fuscella is regularly seen there on my visits.

6. Red-tipped Clearwing 16/06/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New species) The 8th species of Clearwing was attracted to the VES lure, a very welcome Red-tipped Clearwing. The two obvious missing species are both the Hornet Clearwings, maybe next year?
 
7. Aproaerema taeniolella 21/06/24 - Chippenham Fen, East Cambs (New species) It was great to confirm my first of this species. The diagnostic white on the underside clinched it, the moth was released unharmed after a littler dose of c02. Not a particularly common species, they are very cheeky and will twist and twirl when they alight to the trap, much like metalmark moths do abroad.

8. Haplotinea insectella 21/06/24 - Chippenham Fen, East Cambs (2nd for Cambs) A rather large speckly Tineid was potted up from the garage doors at Chippenham Fen. Inspecting it through the glass tube, it certainly didn't look quite right for the similar (but generally smaller) Niditinea species, for which Chippenham Fen is a good site for. There is only one previous record of Haplotinea insectella from Cambridgeshire, dating back to 1905! from Wicken Fen.

9. Coleophora pennella 21/06/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New to Cambs) Two selected Coleophora that looked different in my trap in June turned out to be new species for Cambridgeshire, whats more, both were potted up on the same night! The species are more associated with coastal areas and occasionally wandering into the brecks where its foodplant Bugloss is plentiful.

10. Coleophora lassella 21/06/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New to Cambs) The 2nd incredible Coleophora species, a nationally scarce moth typically associated with sand dunes, how it ended up in my garden trap is beyond me. The foodplant Toad-rush is present in Cambs, so maybe there is a population locally.

11. Evergestis extimalis 26/06/24 Fordham, East Cambs (New for garden) This species turned up on the busiest night for my moths my garden has ever seen, 123 species were noted and I stayed up until psast midnight jotting and potting. This particular Pyralid I have only previously seen in Essex, my last was in 2013. A very good moth for the garden list and the highlight of the night.

12. Phaulernis dentella 08/07/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New species) A rather non-descript moth was netted on the evening of the 8th of July. Initially I thought it was either Elachista or maybe an Epermenia, but it was rather dumpy and not behaving at all like any familiar species. It was to be Cambs 2nd ever Phaulernis dentelle, the first taken 118 years ago at, you guessed it, Wicken Fen.

13. Plumed Fan-foot 19/07/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New species) Highlight of a warm night after the warmest day of the year undoubtedly went to a brand new macro moth for me, a Plumed Fan-foot... well what was left of it, such a terrible state it was. At least the snout and antennae were still present I guess.
I've been lucky to encounter this species abroad a couple of times in Croatia and Slovenia.

14. Orthotelia sparganella 20/07/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (2nd Cambs record) A day later and with the heat still present, another new species for the garden turns up, the cracking reedbed specialist, Orthotelia sparganella, a really unusual looking and rather large micro. I have only ever recorded them previously at Sawbridgeworth Marsh on the Herts/Essex boundary.
 
15. Stathmopoda pedella 22/07/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New for garden) This little colourful character gets a special mention for being such an oddity. It certainly hasn't been a common species for me over the last 18 years. An excellent addition to the garden moth list.

16. Oncocera semirubella 09/08/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New for garden) A very bright moth brought colour to an otherwise dull trap, my first Rhubard & Custard to the garden trap was very pleasing indeed. Not a rare moth by any standards, but they seem scarcer here in the fens as opposed to my old haunt in north Herts on the preferred chalky soil.

17. Clouded Magpie 11/08/24 - Cranwich Heath, Norfolk (New species for UK records) I was invited by Mark Hows to join himself and Iain Leach at Cranwich Heath, well wev didn't make it threre because of livestock issues, so the camp area had to do, it was quite breezy but we all got plenty of good moths. Best for me were my first UK trapped Clouded Magpies, and there were plenty of them! A great little site that I will return to next year.


18. Silver Y oddity 13/08/24 - Chippenham Fen, East Cambs (Unusual specimen) A really strange Plusiinae species came to my trap at nearby Chippenham Fen in mid August. It certainly was very strange looking, and I needed to rule out anything rare like certain African and Far East species that shared some resemblance. The moth was dissected a week later by Colin Plant and was indeed just a weird looking Silver Y. Panic over!

19. Depressaria ultimella 26/08/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New species) A new Depressaridae was always going to be hard to achieve, given that I have seen a fair few of the British species now. So when an ultimella turned up, I was rather shocked. There appear to be only a handful of records here, mostly confined to this area. A fairly plain and boring looking thing I must admit.


20. Lesser Treble-bar 31/08/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New species) Lesser Treble-bar is one of those moths, where i'm pretty sure I've seen one before, but have probably forgot to check the odd specimen. But then I think back and I can't think of any that I let go without checking the abdomen tip, so I was elated to strike gold in the garden after checking maybe several hundred of them over the last 15 or so years.

21. Dotted Clay 01/09/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New for garden) For so late on in the year, it was great to add 3 new garden moths on the 1st of September (normally the new additions fall between May and August, being the time for peak diversity). Dotted Clay was an absolute corker and one I took 3 weeks earlier in Norfolk, but this one was in pristine condition.

22. Anarsia spartiella 01/09/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New for garden) The other Anarsia species put in an appearance on the same red-letter night on the 1st of September (Discounting the uber rare and only known by 1 record, lineatella). It Feeds from Gorse and Broom (for which Cambridgeshire is pretty much devoid of) but not 10 miles away there are swathes of it in nearby West Suffolk. Clearly a blow-in moth but they all count.

23. Ancylosis oblitella 01/09/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New for garden) A cracking pyralid this one, with it's colourful mid-riff toothed scales, a moth I've taken infrequently over the years a wanderer or possible migrant. It's another tick for the garden list.

24. Palpita vitrealis 06/09/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New for garden) What a stunning moth this Pyralid is, very similar to the infamous Box Moth, but smaller and more refined. I did trap my first last year at Chippenham Fen, and a year prior to that, Leslie Gardiner trapped one in his garden in my village, so I had to strike gold (or white in this instance) at some point. It is a primary migrant to our shores, but there is the potential in the future for localised breeding. Through October I kept getting them and I was up to 9 individuals by the end of the month.

25. Cosmopterix pulchrimella 21/09/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New species) A teeny tiny moth was found in one of the egg trays come the morning. It was a rather shiny Cosmopterix that I didn't recognise and was sure I had not seen before. I was right, a great record of Cosmopterix pulchrimella.

26. Pale & Dusky Lemon Sallow 04-05/10/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (Back to Back Lemon Sallows) This pair were noteworthy for being just a day apart. AI am very lucky to get Pale-lemon Sallow in the garden, but it appears it isn't common. This being only my second one since 2021. Dusky is more frequent in the county, but this was again only my 2nd garden record. A lovely pair to capture together.


27. Streak 02/11/24 - Fordham, East Cambs (New species) I thought it was all over for new species for the garden, until the 2nd of November featured a cracking Streak flying around the actinic tubes. Certainly an unexpected moth for the garden list, but probably more common towards the east in west Suffolk, where there is a plentiful supply of foodplant for the species to thrive. It was to be a milestone as well, the 400th macro moth species to be recorded in my garden.