Second week of October

A couple of new ones this week though numbers have been low in general. Black Rustic has been the most numerous, a Chestnut, a few Blair's Shoulder-knot and four species of carpet, Garden, Common Marbled, Spruce and Grey Pine, with a few lingering yellow underwings and Turnip.
Illustrated are the two new ones for the list and a lighter form which I had not encountered before.

Green-brindled Crescent (garden first on 12th)

Brown-spot Pinion (garden first on 8th Oct)

Large Ranunculus (paler form than those I trapped in September)

Merveille du Jour - Oct 8th

Looking in the literature to see what might be around each month, there are a few moths which jump from the pages and on to the "hope I catch one of those in the garden" list. The Merveille du Jour is one of those and this moth duly obliged by finding its way into the trap before I went to bed on 8th Oct. I released it on to a leaf of an apple tree and tried to capture an alternative view of this very distinctive species.

Merveille du Jour (garden first on 8th Oct)

An early October selection

A few new ones have come into the garden in the last week. The tally for the year continues to climb almost daily and still a few of the more common autumn species have yet to appear. With some warm and dry nights forecast it's looking good...

Red-line Quaker (first on 6th Oct)

Rosy Rustic (first on 6th Oct)

Sallow (first on 5th Oct)

Red-green Carpet (first on 7th Oct)

Angle Shades (29th Sept, previously only in June and early July)

In addition, a few more Blair's Shoulder-knot and Black Rustic have been trapped over recent nights and thankfully numbers of yellow underwings have gone right down making the trap a more peaceful place for the remainder of the moths to rest for the night