The Natural Stone

Saturday, June 11, 2005

I blame the parents

The two birch trees in our front garden consistently provide some of the best birds we see in the garden and it is easy to see why if you look closely. The trees are laden with insects. This one was sitting on the underside of a low leaf.

Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea)

Nikon CP995

Swaddywell Children's Day

Pond-dipping, bug-hunting, treasure hunts and herding sheep. The children loved it! And despite the cool, dull conditions we managed to find a few insects: Blue-tailed and Azure Damselflies, which would sit on the childrens' fingers, and the three moths pictured, as well as Pyrausta aurata and The Cinnabar. A Turtle Dove was purring away and a Red Kite over low and then perched in a tree on the reserve was a highlight for many.

Platyptilia gonodactyla (a plume moth)

Aethes tesserana (a tortrix moth)

Crambus lathoniellus (a grass moth)

Nikon CP995

Friday, June 10, 2005

New Garden Moths

A couple of new moths for the garden among a good catch to 125W MV light. The relatively good conditions meant most people had their best night of the year so far - in my case 64 moths of 33 species. Most were year firsts and the two marked **, garden firsts.

0017 Common Swift (Hepialus lupulinus), 2
0779 Bryotropha affinis, 3
0977 Large Fruit-tree Tortrix (Archips podana), 1
1010 Red-barred Tortrix (Ditula angustiorana), 3
1011 Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, 1
1076 Celypha lacunana, 2
1082 Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana), 1
1083 Marbled Orchard Tortrix (Hedya nubiferana), 1
1376 Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata), 1
1392 Udea olivalis, 6
1707 Small Dusty Wave (Idaea seriata), 1
1728 Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata), 1
1776 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria), 1
1860 Green Pug (Chloroclystis rectangulata), 2
1958 Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata), 1
1981 Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi), 1
1991 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor), 1
2007 Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula), 1
2060 White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda), 1
2061 Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda), 2
2089 Heart & Dart (Agrotis exclamationis), 6
2098 The Flame (Axylia putris), 1
2160 Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea), 1
**2167 Tawny Shears (Hadena perplexa), 1
2199 Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens), 2
2302 Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea), 1
2333 Large Nutmeg (Apamea anceps), 9
2334 Rustic Shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens), 5
2337x Marbled Minor agg. (Oligia strigilis agg.), 1
2380 Treble Lines (Charanyca trigrammica), 1
2387 Mottled Rustic (Caradrina morpheus), 1
**2439 Gold Spot (Plusia festucae), 1
2474 Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis), 1

Click the pics for larger images.

Gold Spot (Plusia festucae)

Tawny Shears (Hadena perplexa)

Byotropha affinis

Large Fruit-tree Tortrix (Archips podana)

Red-barred Tortrix (Ditula angustiorana)

Pseudargyrotoza conwagana

Clypha lacunana

Marbled Orchard Tortrix (Hedya nubiferana)

Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata)

Udea olivalis

Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata)

Green Pug (Chloroclystis rectangulata)

Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)

Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula)

Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)

The Flame (Axylia putris)

Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea)

Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens)

Large Nutmeg (Apamea anceps)

Treble Lines (Charanyca trigrammica)

Mottled Rustic (Caradrina morpheus)

Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)

Nikon CP995

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Woodston Ponds LNR

First visit for a while. Cuckoo, Garden Warbler, Nightingale and plenty of Reed Warblers about.

Nemophora degeerella, a small swarm of these amazing longhorn moths on a large, shady nettle patch.

Small China-mark (Cataclysta lemnata), male

Epiblema scutulana/cirsiana

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella), pair in mating wheel.

Nikon CP995

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Swaddywell Pit

A lunchtime lepidoptera and odonata spree with Mother Shipton the undoubted highlight for Weedon's World of Nature and me.

Mother Shipton (Callistege mi)