Elvaston Castle Country Park(field report-ish)

I visit Elvaston Castle Country Park during the day 3 or 4 times a week but rarely see many moths there, all I found there last year was a single Small Magpie but in the last couple of days things have changed. Yesterday I noticed 3 Engrailed resting on tree trunks, I took a small pot with me today to catch one so I could get a photo and compare it with the Engrailed I get in my garden. The Elvaston Engrailed are mixed shades of brown whereas the ones I get at home are more blue/green with some brown so even though Elvaston is only a couple of miles from my home there is quite a bit of variation. I found 7 Engrailed at Elvaston today as well as 1 Diurnea Fagella and a micro which escaped from the pot as I was getting the Diurnea into it.

I wasn't expecting that!

I should have taken finding the Engrailed on the garden fence as a good omen, specially after I spotted another 3 of them in some nearby woodland whilst walking my dogs....but as the temperature dropped to what felt like a very chilly 5c I nearly didn't bother putting the trap out. By 1am I had just 2 moths and it was getting colder so I was almost in shock when I went out to clear away and found 6 moths including 2 Hebrew Character and a Herald!. I also got what I think is a Small Quaker if anyone can confirm this?

The trap was out from 7:40pm to 4am

1 Common Quaker

1 Clouded Drab

2 Hebrew Character

1 Herald

1 Small Quaker?(see 3rd photo above)

Dotted Border

Much cooler tonight with the temperature down to 4c so I didn't get many moths but one of them was a Dotted Border which is another new one for my garden so I'm happy enough :0)
The trap was out from 7pm to 4am(GMT)

1 Dotted Border
2 Early Grey
1 Clouded Drab

New layout & a new moth

How cool is the new blogger template designer!!

My new blog title background photo features a Pebble Prominent, my MV trap and a satellite view of the area I trap in(grid Ref:SK3832Blue - SK388324Green or SK38813241Red). The area behind and including my garden was a copse on the edge of farm land from around the 1500s to the mid 1920s, the copse wasn't removed it was just split into gardens so many of the trees have been there for hundreds of years which makes it something of a suburban wildlife haven with everything from frogs to foxes regularly visiting our gardens. I plan to canvas the area next month with a leaflet encouraging my neighbours to report any caterpillars or moths they find so that I can see if there is anything in the area that doesn't visit my garden.

Tonight I got the usual bunch of seasonal visitors plus a Twin-Spotted Quaker which is another first for my garden....I also found a rather fat toad on the sheet under the trap which was enjoying a meal of flies....I'm hoping it hadn't also eaten any moths!

The trap was out from 6:45pm to 3:30am

2 Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla

4 Common Quaker

2 Chestnut

1 Early Grey

1 Twin-Spotted Quaker

Despite the rain....

I got quite a few moths tonight considering it was raining quite heavily most of the time, nothing new but a much nicer specimen of The Chestnut than the first one I caught earlier this month.
The trap was out from 6:45pm till 3am

1 Chestnut
1 Clouded Drab
2 Early Grey
2 Common Quaker
1 Agonopterix heracliana
2 Light Brown Apple Moth

Satellite

I only got one moth tonight, a Satellite but once again it's a new one for my garden and the first one I have ever seen, I was amazed at just how 'bright' the white spots on it's wings were...now I just need to catch one with orange spots!.

Engrailed

Much colder than last night but I gave the MBT a try anyway and managed to attract a lovely Engrailed which is another first for my garden.

Less is more...much more!

I put the trap out last night despite the rain and all I got was another Common Quaker, the rain was much heavier early on tonight so I went with the lazy MBT on the window ledge routine and attracted 3 Common Quaker, 2 Early Grey, what I think are 2 Clouded Drab(quite a bit of variation between them), 1 Agonopterix Heracliana, 1 Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla and a micro I can't ID, I didn't get a very good photo of it either but it had a particularly bright silver line along the inside edge of its wings if that helps?

Photos top to bottom

Clouded Drab

Clouded Drab

Early Grey

Common Quaker

unidentified micro

Where are they?

It stayed at around 7c so I was hopeful and I put the MBT trap out as soon as it started to get dark but I only got 1 moth!, looks like a Common Quaker to me which is a new one for my garden so I'm not too disappointed :0(

A slightly bigger improvement

It stayed around 5c tonight and I caught a macro!....admittedly it wasn't a very big macro at 11mm but I'll take what I can get at the moment, It's probably a worn Chestnut or Quaker of some sort but I'm not 100% sure despite scouring the usual sites for anything similar so it's over to you guys again for an ID. I also got 3 beautiful Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla, tomorrow night promises to be considerably warmer so fingers crossed....

Small improvements

I've tried MBT, MV and actinic in the last month and only attracted 1 moth which was a Pale Brindled Beauty, tonight the forecast promised a slightly warmer evening but failed to deliver on that promise with the temperature dropping to 2c soon after midnight. I put the actinic out in the garden out of hope but didn't expect to catch anything so the 2 micros I found in the trap were a very welcome surprise....not that I have any idea what either of them are!