Purple Thorn

 

Well the revamped kitchen is looking good but as well as being a bit lighter of pocket, I seem to have missed much of the Spring migration. Fortunately the moth season in the back garden has started and has kept me interested, although the catches so far have been poor.

As with last year I had nothing in the trap from the mid November to mid March except for one Light Brown Apple Moth and a Common Plume. My first real catch of the year was an Early Grey and a Double-stripped Pug on the 22nd March.

Early Grey - Xylocampa areola

April increased the catches a bit but I was still looking at five or six moths a night at best. Fortunately that included, new for the garden, Purple Thorn and a Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet.

Purple Thorn - Selenia tetralunaria

Purple Thorn - Selenia tetralunaria

Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet - Xanthorhoe ferrugata

Other moths of interest were a couple of Brindled Beauty and a Powdered Quaker.......

Brindled Beauty - Lycia hirtaria

Powdered Quaker -  Orthosia gracilis

...... with the numbers made up with Common Quakers, Flame Shoulders, Hebrew Characters and a good number of Double-striped Pugs.

Common Quaker - Orthosia cerasi

Flame Shoulder - Ochropleura plecta

Hebrew Character - Orthosia gothica

A change away from the northerly winds and some more humid nights would be welcomed. I suppose the Spring moths are flying somewhere but I am not seeing many of them in the garden.