The moth traps were indeed lively again. 123 species of 350+ individual moths with 22 new for years taking the year list to 321 and the all time moth list for the garden on 657.
Unfortunately I had to do a bit of paperwork today but did manage to get out and check for inverts through the day. The heat wave is coming to an end over the next couple of days so been trying to make the most of it.
Not much to report on the bird front, in fact a lot of birds are very quiet and keeping their heads down. The dawn chorus is very brief and very little singing during the day. A Goldcrest in the oaks this morning was the first in several weeks.
A male Yellow-legged Clearwing to VES lure was only the second record for the garden. Also had an Orange-tailed Clearwing come in. This week I've successfully lured in Lunar Hornet, Red-belted, Orange-tailed and Yellow-legged Clearwing but not had any luck with Currant or Six-belted lures- yet.
Barred Red- only had one or two of these in the past. Certainly some interesting dispersive moths this week but it has been relatively very poor for migrants. A couple of Rush Veneers today were the first for this week and other migrants have included just a few Diamond-backs, the odd Rusty-dot and a single Small Mottled Willow. A few of the Knot-horn species may be migrants as might some of the Large Yellow Underwings and Ermine moths which have appeared in pretty good numbers.
Small Dotted Buff- another unusual garden visit
Burdock Conch
Amber Mompha, Mompha ochracella? Retained for dissection. I dropped a batch of moths off to Mike today so fingers crossed a few surprises in there.
The garden has been buzzing with insects this week. Latest obs HERE and few picture highlights including Tawny Long-horn Beetle (above) and a few below. Now logged 279 plants and insects (not including leps or dragonflies) for the garden HERE
Spotted Thintail, Meliscaeva auricollis. Loads of hoverflies around including Sun Fly, Marmalade Hoverfly everywhere, Common Dronefly, Migrant Hoverfly, Superb Anthill Hoverfly and Globetails.
Ichneumon sp. possibly sarcitorius
Broad Centurion Fly
Possibly Black-clouded Longhorn Beetle.
A graphic from the Climate Emergency Institute. Plenty of climate alarmists having a field day at the moment with more heat records being broken. According to this source there is also a cold anomaly in the North Atlantic which is contibuting to the development of what various sources are calling a 'heat dome' over Western and Central Europe and the UK. A southerly displaced jet stream is also being suggested by other sources as contributing to blocking the Atlantic airflow. Certainly an interesting weather system and very intense and very much a bit of climate chaos with jet streams, heat domes and cold blobs all at play. There has been some moth migration in the south west and east coast- presumably as a result of the easterly winds so hopefully as the heat dome gives way to a south westerly airflow this weekend we might get some more migrants here. Also been good to test some of our self resilience this week during these condiitons- we managed to keep all the plants and animals alive and well and actually used the heat and plenty of irrigation to promote plenty of plant growth and to provide lots of nectar, cool areas and water for insects and birds. I very much doubt there will ever be a meaningful political solution to the climate crisis (despite lots of attempts from various groups to co-opt the narrative in order to capitalise from it) so learning to adapt to it and play it's advantages (like good numbers of insects!) seems a good appraoch.
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