Elvaston Castle Country Park(NMN)

Flame Shoulder

??????? Pug

Pebble Prominent

Flame Carpet

Not ideal conditions but I've been wanting to trap at 'Elvo Castle' for years so it was a treat no matter what happened, as it turned out (after a slow start) I did ok. I started off the evening running 2 traps(MV & MBT) and the MBT was winning for a while but after midnight the MV took over and by 1am I had turned the MBT off to save petrol.  I ended up with 22 moths of 10 different species but just wait till the weather improves and I get back there!!. Thanks to Graham and everyone from the 'Friends Of Elvaston Castle' for coming along, thanks to Steve Thorpe(and Jordan) for coming along and thanks to Andy Laxton for letting me trap there!!.

 Trap 1(MBT) 9:30pm till 1am

2 Waved Umber
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
3 Micropterix Calthella
1 Flame Shoulder
1 Unidentified(very worn)

Trap 2(MV) 9:30pm till 4am

1 Pebble Prominent
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Flame Carpet
3 Flame Shoulder
6 Micropterix Calthella
1 Muslin Moth
1 Least Black Arches
1 ?????? Pug(see photo above)

Epiblema cynosbatella, Powdered Quaker? & L.Y.U.

Epiblema cynosbatella

Powdered Quaker

LYU

It stayed a bit warmer than last night(7c at 3am) but still not many moths around, I got what I think is a Plum Tortix but it could be Marbled Orchard Tortix so please correct me if I'm wrong(Dean has now pointed out that it's neither of those species, it is in fact a Epiblema cynosbatella...thanks Dean). Also turning up to make a nuisance of itself was the first Large Yellow Underwing of the year which did the usual LYU thing and bashed about in the trap for about 35 minutes till it finally ran out of energy....I'm so looking forward to those summer evenings when there are 30+ of the little blighters in the trap each night......NOT!. I also got what I'm hoping is a Powdered Quaker, it was certainly a lot paler than the Common Quakers but as I've never seen a P.Q. I'm not sure.
 The trap was out from 9:25pm till 3:30am

1 Grey/Dark Dagger
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Common Pug
1 Scalloped Hazel(much smaller than last nights!)
1 Epiblema cynosbatella(NFG)(ID thanks Dean)
1 Powdered Quaker?(NFG)
1 Large Yellow Underwing(NFY)

Scalloped Hazel

Scalloped Hazel

Still not a lot about and the temperature dropped to 4c soon after midnight but I did get a Scalloped Hazel which is new for my garden so it wasn't too bad.
 The trap was out from 9:25pm to 3am

1 Twenty Plume
1 Chinese Character
2 Common Pug
1 Double Striped Pug
1 A. Acanthadactyla
1 Waved Umber
1 Scalloped Hazel(NFG)

Muslin & Least Black Arches

You would think that leaving the trap out for 5 hours and only getting 2 moths might be a tad disappointing but as they are both new species for my garden and very attractive moths I am far from disappointed.
The trap was out from 9:15pm to 2:15am

1 Muslin Moth
1 Least Black Arches

Poplar Kitten, Spectacle, Dark Sword Grass & Dark Barred Twin Spot Carpet

Poplar Kitten

Spectacle

Dark Barred Twin Spot Carpet

Dark Sword Grass

The temperature stayed at 9c and the drizzle, which should have arrived at 1am according to all the weather reports didn't materialise so I had a decent night of trapping with 3 new species for the year as well as 1 new one for my garden.
 The trap was out from 9pm to 3am

1 Poplar Kitten(NFY)
1 Pale Tussock
3 common Pug
1 Double Striped Pug
1 Spectacle(NFY)
3 Micropterix Calthella
1 E. Monodactyla
2 A. Acanthadactyla
3 Waved Umber
1 Garden Carpet
1 Dark Barred Twin Spot Carpet(NFG)
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart(1st female this year!)
1 Hebrew Charcter
1 Dark Sword Grass(NFY)

Swallow Prominent

It rained till 1am which meant I didn't put the trap out but at 2am-ish I let one of the dogs out into the garden and I thought I might as well nip out for a look around.....I found this resting on the wall! :0))

More unexpected arrivals.....

Ruby Tiger

Iron Prominent

Chinese Character

Clouded Drab

Lead-Coloured Drab

Grey/Dark Dagger

Chocolate Tip

Plenty of moths around tonight thanks to the mild weather so a lot of time was spent potting things up to study....mainly pugs!, I did see several more familiar faces from last year with the first Ruby Tiger, Iron Prominent and Chinese Character of the year and a rather surprising Grey/Dark Dagger turned up too. I also got what I hope is a Lead-Coloured Drab but it could be a Clouded Drab(?) as could the other example I got, if either of them are Lead-Coloured that's a new one for my garden. As if all that wasn't enough for one night I also got a Chocolate Tip which is unusual for this part of the country but hey....I'm not complaining :0).

 The trap was out from 8pm to 4am

1 Early Grey
1 Ruby Tiger
1 Iron Prominent
1 Waved Umber
1 Purple Thorn
2 Pine Beauty
1 Garden Carpet
2 Twenty Plume
1 Early Thorn
1 Chinese Character
1 Brindled Beauty
1 Herald
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Grey/Dark Dagger
2 E. Monodactyla
3 A. Acanthadactyla
7 Micropterix Calthella
1 Lead-Coloured Drab
1 Clouded Drab
1 Light Brown Apple Moth
2 Hebrew Character
4 Common Pug
1 Foxglove Pug
1 Double Striped Pug
1 Chocolate Tip