Musings on the Wild

This week our garden bird feeder was visited by some new visitors. I was sat out in the garden hoping to try out my new EchoMeter Touch 2 Bat Detector (review to follow) when I could hear something on one of the bird feeders on the pergola. Taking a closer look I saw a little Wood Mouse. He was joined later by two more.



Since their first sighting they have returned each night and last night was joined by another two that were visiting the bird table.


With the warm weather and a fully charged battery I have been making good use of my moth traps and this weekend got a manageable haul. I m still learning the species and so I do not want too many to overwhelm my ID skills.

I have reached about 50 individual species so far. I plan to do a full exploration of 'mothing' but for now here are some of what I have found.

Dark Arches

Scalloped Oak

A noctuid moth popping out to say hi

This long weekend is the last before I return to work tomorrow for the final 7-week haul to the Summer Holidays.

As part of my action against the badger cull I started Friday by posting off 13 letters to the heads of DEFRA, Natural England and Warwickshire County Council. I am not expecting a reply but I have to say something. Additionally,
my welcome pack from the Badger Trust arrived and I got in touch the Warwickshire Badger Group to tell them of the setts I knew of.

Several weeks ago I discovered a large network of holes not far from me and so in the afternoon I set up on of my trail cameras to see what I could find. I continued my cycle up to the top fields where sometimes I see Little Owl, sadly none were in evidence but I did spot a vibrant Greenfinch and the local Buzzard wheeling casually in the sky carrying his dinner, a rabbit from the looks of it.



The following day I went back to the camera to see if the sett was being used and retrieved the camera. I was pleased to discover that it is in use and had at least one cub. In the clip below you can see play-fighting behaviour.


Last night with my battery recharged I put out my moth trap. I was a little disappointed with the results this morning but I did get some interesting non-moth inhabitants including an Alder Fly and 3 Mayflys Ephemera danica. 

I collected 8 moths in total. 4 Heart and Darts (Agrostis exclamationis), 1 unknown Pug, 1 White Spotted Pug (Eupethicia tripunctaria), 1 Marsh Pug (Eupethicia pygmaeata) and 1 micro moth Eudonia pallida.

Heart and Dart

White Spotted Pug

Mayfly

For my birthday this month, I got a Moth Trap. I have been toying with the idea of getting one for some years now. Moths are a taxa that I am not particularly familiar with. I spend much of my wildlife time in daylight and so do not really come across them.

They are fascinating species and have a wide range of morphologies and life cycles. In fact, there are far more species of moth in the UK than there are Butterflies. After a bit of research, I asked for a portable 6 watt 12 volt Actinic Bulb Heath Trap - http://www.nhbs.com/title/160780/6w-12v-portable-heath-moth-trap

The trap arrived in good condition but needed a separate battery for operation. It is simple to assemble and well constructed. Metal panels make it durable whilst plastic funnels and veins direct moths into the collecting chamber whilst also keeping out the rain.

After reading up a little and watching a few you tube clips I set up the trap last night on the patio in my garden. I left it on over night and with some trepidation, I checked it this morning. I was hesitant as on some clips traps had attracted hundreds of moths and I did not think I was up to such identification challenges. As luck would have it the trap contained only a few moths.

As I carefully removed the egg boxes I managed to trap and/or photograph 12 moths. Only three managed to escape one Macro - the largest in the tap and two micro.

Of these 12 moths, five were Macro Moths and 7 Micro Moths. I then began the task of identifying them - I used: UK Moths and  British Moths and Butterflies. Below are the ones I have identified, most of the micros are too difficult for me and if you think I have something wrong let me know, I am very much a beginner at this.

Plume Moth - Amblytilia acanthadactyla

Riband Wave - Ideae aversata

Possibly a Black Owlet - Scythris grandipennis

Single Dotted Wave - Ideae dimidata

Cabbage Moth? -Mamestra brassicae

Large Yellow Underwing - Noctua pronuba

Common Carpet - Epirrhoe alternata

These are the micro moths I have been unable to identify: