Taking advantage of the good weather and the fact I am still working from home, I've ran the moth trap three nights this week, Sunday, Tuesday and last night. Whilst numbers have been low, the trap has produced a lifer each session, including one of the moths I've most wanted to see since I started taking an interest in them.
A couple of weeks ago the trap contained a Copper Underwing, but is escaped before I could check the underside of the hind wing. Opening the trap on Monday morning, amongst the 11 moths, of 7 species, was another Copper Underwing. This one didn't get away and a check of the under hind wing confirmed it as Amphipyra pyramidea, the commoner of the two species in south Wales.
On to Wednesday morning and a slight increase in numbers to 14 moths of 8 species. The newcomer was a Pale Mottled Willow, Paradrina clavipalpis.
I then made a late decision to put the trap out last night, starting it just after 9pm. Low numbers this morning, just 8 individuals, from 8 species. But it did contain one of my most wanted moths. Unfortunately not a Clifden Nonpareil, Catocala fraxini, which seem to be sweeping through south east Wales at the moment. I think it's a much better looking moth, Merveille du Jour, Dichonia aprilina.
Sandwiched in between the trapping sessions, I've managed a couple of trip out with some sucess. On Tuesday I was coaching in Haverfordwest, and spent the afternoon in the Marloes Mere / Gann estuary area, picking up the two Buff-breasted Sandpipers at Marloes, before picking up a few plant lifers, including Chamomile and a Boat Bug, Enplopis scapha, and a couple of fungi, including the spectacularly coloured Gibberella gordonii, a fungi that feeds on the much more common fungi Ergot on the Spartina.
After coaching in Neath last night I decided to take advantage of the good weather and the fact it was getting dark earlier to hunt for one of the most spectacular beetles inhabiting south Wales. the Blue Ground Beetle, Carabus intricatus. Until recently this large beetle was only known from 10 remote sites in Devon and Cornwall but a few years ago one was photographed in Skewen. Bug Life has undertaken a number of surveys and found a reasonable sized population in south Wales. I'd taken part in one survey a couple of years ago that failed to find any, so this was definitely on my "most wanted" list. About 30 minutes of torch light scanning of large oaks, interrupted by a curious Tawny Owl, that needed to check me out, and bingo, about 3m up there was a large armoured blue beetle. Unfortunately too high to get a decent photo, but a couple of record shots were obtained.
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