Moths!

This morning the main interest in the trap was provided by the intruders rather than the moths themselves. Among the weird stuff was a probable Water Boatman, loads of tiny beetles (Helophorus?) and a Cranefly.

Heart and Dart 15

The Miller 1

Bright-line Brown-eye 1

Knot Grass 1

Scarlet Tiger 4

Brimstone 1

Bee Moth 1

Tachystola acroxantha 1

Pug sp. 1

Birch Shieldbug 3

Harlequin

Tipula vernalis

Probable Water Boatman

Possible Helophorus beetles

Crab Spider Philodromus

Scarlet Tiger

Birch Shieldbug

The Miller

Brimstone Moth

Water Boatman?

Bright-line Brown-eye

Helophorus?

Knot Grass

Moffs, wasps and spiders!

Some good moths in the trap this morning including a few new ones for me. Highlights were a Herald and a Buff Arches, both 'firsts'.

Herald 1

Buff Arches 1

Brimstone 1

Swallow-tailed Moth 1

Shuttle-shaped Dart 2

Bright-line Brown-eye 1

Marbled Beauty 1

Marbled Green 1

Flame Shoulder 1

Common Rustic 1

Copper Underwing/Svensson's Copper Underwing 1

Knot Grass 1

Silver Y1

Gold Triangle 1

Small Dusty Wave 1

Tachystola acroxantha

Agriphila straminella

? Acrobasis sp.

There were inevitably some rather cold and dopey Common Wasps in the trap because of the nearby nest, but I was surprised to see a male False Widow Steatoda grossa just outside the window!

Moffs, spiders and Goldfinches!

I ran my moth trap again last night. Nothing particularly exciting or new ventured in but never mind.
Heart and Dart 19
Dark Arches 2
Bright Line Brown Eye 1
Silver Y 2
Codling Moth 1
Box Tree Moth (dark form) 1
Willow Beauty 1
Rustic/Uncertain 2
Notocelia trimaculana 1
Possible Spilonota ocellana 1
Tachystola acroxantha 1
Eudonia lacustrata 1
? Bird-cherry Ermine 1

Box Tree Moth

Codling Moth

Dark Arches

I was delighted to see a Running Crab-spider wandering across my laptop last night.

This morning a Goldfinch was singing outside my bathroom window.

Moffs!

I fired up the moth trap last night and it produced:
Lime Hawkmoth 1
Brimstone 1
Bright-line Brown-eye 1
Heart and Dart 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart 1
Knot Grass 1
Marbled Minor agg. 1

Also a tiny Psallus bug and a rather angry wasp!

Bright-line Brown-eye

Lime Hawkmoth

Knot Grass

Marbled Minor

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Fox v Cat stare-out competition!

This morning at the station a cat was sat on the platform near the tunnel looking at something and, following its gaze I saw a Fox sat in the grass. Nearby there were more Cinnabar Moth caterpillars on the Ragwort plants and on the wall was a tiny spider called Theridion varians - a pretty little thing but this species has loads of different colours so not easy to identify. A Coal Tit was singing this morning too, not that common at the station, tending to prefer the park.

Hidden Fox

Crouching cat

Cinnabar Moth caterpillars

Theridion varians

Last night I had the following moths in my trap:
Knot Grass 2
Chrysoteuchia culmella 2
Ermine moth sp. 1
Anania coronata 1
Probable Common Rustic agg.
Grey/Dark Dagger
Bright-line Brown-eye 1
Riband Wave 3
Shuttle-shaped Dart 1
Heart and Dart 3
Marbled Beauty 2
Large Yellow Underwing 1
Probable Cabbage Moth 1
Coronet 1
Dark Arches 1

Knot Grass

Anania coronata

Coronet

Ravens!

There was a racket coming from the TV mast this morning - a couple of Herring Gulls and no less than 6 Magpies were mobbing a pair of Ravens! Presumably these are the St Werburghs birds. The station was quiet other than a Woodpigeon and the usual House Sparrows. It was good to see some Perforate St John's Wort near the railway line.

Magpies

Ravens

Perforate St John's Wort

Woodpigeon

I put the moth trap out last night and had an amazing 25+ Heart and Dart along with my first ever Heart and Club, a Pale Mottled Willow, a couple of Large Yellow Underwings and a smart Bright-line Brown-eye. A small but attractive micro-moth looks to be Eudonia lacustrata which likes moss on trees and walls - lots of moss on my roof!

Bright-line Brown-eye

Heart and Dart

Eudonia lacustrata

Heart and Club

Large Yellow Underwing

Pale Mottled Willow

This evening there was a small Centipede in the bath! It might be a Lithobius species.

Moths!

The continuing saga of my useless moth trap has now resulted in me ordering a new one so hopefully I might catch some decent moths when it arrives. Anyway, today there was a Shuttle-shaped Dart, a Flame Shoulder and a Common Carpet plus a very faded moth which I assume was a Bright-line Brown-eye but mercifully it escaped before I could ID it. A Harlequin Ladybird joined the party too.

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Flame Shoulder

Common Carpet

Harlequin Ladybird

Moths!

The trap produced the following:
Swallow-tail 1
Garden Carpet 1
Bright-line Brown-eye 1
Purple Thorn 1 - new species!
Silver Y 1
Coronet 1
Riband Wave 1
Double-striped Pug 1

Cooronet

Garden Carpet

Silver Y

Deraeocoris flavilinea

Bright-line Brown-eye

Swallow-tail

Purple Thorn

Double-striped Pug

Riband Wave

There was also a bug in the trap - turns out it is a plant bug called Deraeocoris flavilinia which only arrived in the UK in 1996 but is now common.

Later I saw a huge queen Tree Bumblebee in the flat.

Tree Bumblebee