Midsummer mothing madness

Well, not quite madness as such - indeed, some of the numbers others are getting are enviable compared to ours - but we've had a good enough couple of days at the end of June that I'm now rather frustrated at being at a conference until tomorrow and not able to put the trap out. So on the 29th, we caught 128 moths of 46 species, and then on the 30th, 134 of 51 species, both sets being very good indeed by the standards of our garden. Over the two days, likewise, we had good numbers NFY - ten on the 29th, nine on the 30th - with eleven of them being garden ticks.

Among the highlights of these newcomers were a Maiden's Blush, a Miller and  a Sycamore on the 29th, and a Green Silver-lines (I didn't know moths came in that colour!) and Dot Moth on the 30th; not forgetting the micros - Cochylis hybridella, Pammene regiana and Phtheochora rugosana (who decided how to spell that one?) being especially handsome examples.

Green Silver-lines, 30th June

Maiden's Blush, 29th June

Miller, 29th June

Sycamore, 29th June

Dot Moth, 30th June

Cochylis hybridella, 29th June

Pammene regiana, 30th June

Phtheochora rugosana, 30th June

Which leaves us with a total of 173 for the year - 166 moths, and seven butterflies. Hoping July will be as productive as June started to be in its last couple of weeks.