12th June

It was National Moth Night so John decided to set up traps in the Magic Garden despite a rather unpromising weather forecast. This time we put one in an area of conifers which we hadn’t used before. My son Frank spotted a tiny moth perched on a pine branch as we set up, it was Spotted Shoot Moth, a new species for the parish!

The night had seen quite a lot of rain but nonetheless it was a reasonable catch with over 50 species. However the murky, overcast conditions this morning did not make for easy photography!  Pick of the catch for me was this lovely Green Silver Lines, a welcome new species for the parish.

This Green Arches was another striking addition to the list

And although we’ve caught a number of them I can’t resist these Scorched Wing moths…

And these brilliant little Buff Tips imitating fragments of Silver Birch…

And it’s always nice to get a couple of these gaudy Elephant Hawk Moths in the traps

Best find however, but still to be confirmed, was a tiny micro called Prochoreutis myllerana. No photo yet but this is a genuine Yorkshire rarity with less than a dozen records and these mainly towards the south of the county. Significantly, their foodplant is Skullcap which still clings on in the fen area of the Garden.