Mellow Yellow

Once it gets to late September the number of species of moths I catch starts to reduce and slowly the composition has a particular autumnal feel about it.

 Sallow

Many moths are quite variable and the Sallow is no exception. I must admit I puzzled of the moth below for a while, but I think it is a colour morph of the Sallow. It's not (Thanks Ben) it's a Brick.

Brick

Dusky-lemon Sallow

Another of the Sallows is the Dusky Lemon Sallow, a moth I catch about every three years!

Barred Sallow

The Barred Sallow is another infrequent visitor to the garden. .

  Centre-barred Sallow

 Far more frequent is the Centre-barred Sallow

This general colour scheme is a recurring theme with moths at this time of year, perhaps to blend in with the turning leaves.

 A few others from last night. 

 Black Rustic

 Autumnal Rustic

 Brown-spot Pinion

 Mallow

 Ana all the time I going through my moth traps at this time of year I can see one or more migrating Chiffchaffs coming dawn to bath and drink in the "waterfall" in the garden, through my conservatory window.

A quieter day.

Although mothing has been relatively quiet this year there were a few moths of interest in the traps this morning.

Northern Rustic (Standfussiana lucernea)

This Northern Rustic is the third I've caught in my garden and the fourth in St Margaret's ( one caught at Copperfields). Two were in 2007 and two this year. As far as I can ascertain it is quite a rare moth in Kent, there have been three in the Dungeness area, singles in 1994, 2002 and 2006, and on their site it is described as a vagrant. It has been recorded at Folkestone Warren but I can't find any recent records. Last night's moth, on 27th September is the latest of the records I can find. The normal habitat of this moth is mainly coastal, inhabiting cliffs and rocky places, so it is possible there is a small population in the area.

Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata)

If I've identified this correctly (as a Sallow), it's the second for the garden. Note: As Richard suspected, in his comment, this is a Pink-barred Sallow, and a garden first. Nigel Jarman popped in and sorted a few of my mysteries and mis-identifications for me!(I curse my poor colour vision, unfortunately there are no glasses for "Daltonism").
There are five species of sallow that fly in the Autumn and the only one I get regularly is the Centre-barred Sallow and this normally ceases to fly by the last week of September.

Barred Sallow (Xanthia aaurago)

The Barred Sallow is the second most common Sallow in the garden with a dozen records before this year. Previous records run from 29th September to 20th October, so this one is the earliest by two days.

Feathered Ranunculus (Polymixis lichenea)

The Feathered Ranunculus is locally common in Kent, it is a variable coloured moth, but always with the same underlying pattern. It is often found in coastal areas and is mainly on the wing from the beginning of September to the middle of October, with some as early as late August. I don't know if the scientific name refers to the cryptic pattern, rather like lichen or not. It certainly is an appropriate name.

The only migrant moth I caught last night was a Dark Sword-grass. This moth can occur in all months from March to November, and it is possible that some survive mild winters. It his is the case, as we get more and more frost free winters it could become a resident. In large numbers is can become a pest of some crops. It is easily recognised by the line of dart marks near the end of the wings. When the wings are open it has bright with hind wings, that are quite a surprise given the overall sombre appearance.

Birding was much quieter today and I contrived to miss the best bird of the day, a Dartford Warbler at Hope Point. It had gone into the thick cover and didn't reappear white I was there. There were still quite a few of the commoner migrants around but not the excitement of the last two days.

Thematic nature

In all sections of natural history one of the fascinating areas as how similar groups have evolved different species. In birds one of these is the wheatears, in butterflies the fritillaries and at the moment the group of moths I'm seeing is the sallows. The first I caught this year was the Centre Barred Sallow, then The Sallow and now the Barred Sallow. There are a four others, in the past I've caught a few Dusky-lemon Sallows and one each of Orange and Pink-barred, but never the much rarer Pale-lemon Sallow, so fingers crossed for the next couple of weeks.

Barred-sallow (Xanthia aurago)

The Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)

As I have said before the naturalists in the past have had great imaginations when it came to naming moths. This one is called the Satellite and the two small white dots at the corners of the larger half moon shapes obviously caught the eye of the namer of this species. It emerges around the end of September and in the right weather conditions can be seen throughout the winter. The caterpillars feed on various trees and also also have a carnivorous tendency towards larvae of other species.

Birds The wind today was very off putting but did bring a few seabirds. I saw quite a few Mediterranean Gulls, but the guys who stuck it out down in the bay counted an incredible 169 as well as a good selection of other seabirds. (click on seabirds to see the list). An intriguing development this evening is the appearance of a picture of a Hoopoe on Surfbirds, taken at St Margaret's at Cliffe today, see here. If any one knows where abouts it was taken I'd love to know.

Marvel of the Day

Our friend Alex, with his two children J(ason) and Katie came over for the weekend. On top of the list was a bit of badger watching, J saw one last time they stayed, but then he was a bit sleepy and the memory is a bit blurred.

I was really pleased when this Badger arrived quite early and allowed Alex to get some pictures.

I had thought it was a young boar, but one of Alex's pictures from side on has the conclusive evidence that he is a she. I don't think it is the same sow that came regularly a couple of months ago, unless she's broadened across the beam quite quickly.

Merveille du Jour (Dichonia aprilina),

Although I've been complaining that this year hasn't been great for moths, it is still possible that I will catch more species of macro in the garden than in any of the other years we've been here, although not s many individuals than in some years. One of the new species for the year today was a Merveille du Jour, surely one of the most beautiful, and thoroughly deserves it's name. Two of the others That are worth a second glance are the Green-brindled Crescent and the Pink-barred Sallow

Green-brindled Crescent (Allophyes oxyacanthae)

Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata)

Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata)

A second, more richly coloured Pink-barred Sallow.

Scarce Bordered Straw (Helicoverpa armigera)

I also caught eight Silver Y's, all looking very smart and fresh, and also a Scarce Bordered Straw, a less striking moth, but a more unusual migrant.

The Autumn Collection

Another warm day with a bright blue sky and potential for sun burn! I walked through Kearsney Abbey grounds and followed the River Dour through Bushy Ruff.

At the end of Bushy Ruff, just before the river goes under the road I sat and watched the water trickle past for a while. The area looks perfect for a Kingfisher and it wasn't long before a flash of orange and blue proved me right. Although I saw one several times, never did it sit in the open and pose for pictures. It may be worth looking again and trying to work out if it has a favourite perch that can be watch from cover.

This time of year brings a collection of moths that really fit the "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. In the third verse of his "Ode to Autumn" Keats does mention Sallows, but of course he is referring to trees, not moths. But the Autumn does bring sallows to the moth trap and somehow their basic yellow patterns reflect the season perfectly.

Centre-barred Sallow

Barred Sallow

Orange Sallow

Dusky-lemon Sallow

Some of the other moths that I'm trapping at the moment are similar in their style.

Lunar Underwing

Beaded Chestnut

Autumnal Rustic

Best of all, for me today, was a Flounced Chestnut, the first I've caught here. Chestnuts are another group of moths that are mainly seem in the Autumn.

Flounced Chestnut.

Fallen Leaves

Today was the first day of October and the signs of Autumn are now well under way.

As the leaves fall from the trees I've sill been running my moth traps. I don't normally write much about moths here since I started my daily blog reporting the catch each day, but the change that occurs as Autumn arrives is worth a look.

I suppose that in most animal species there are several reasons for the appearance of the individuals. One may be to attract members of the opposite sex and another to either deter or hide from predators. In the case of moths, which are mainly active during the night it is important that there are not too obvious when they are resting during the day. I think that it may be for this reason that so many species of the moths that are caught at this time of year exhibit what I would call Autumn colours.

This is a typical Autumn arrival, but usually, in my garden, in small numbers. The hind-wing, normal hidden is dark grey.

 Early arrivals include Lunar Underwings, a variable species sometimes quite abundant, occurring in forms that vary from as pale as the Beaded Chestnut above to almost black. It can look similar to the moth above, but always has a pale underwing with a "lunar" mark on it.

 The Frosted Orange is one of my favourites, a very dead leaf type of pattern.

One of the groups that I've been catching in the last week or so, are the Sallows, below are the four species I've caught so far this year, from the the group of seven that have occurred since I've been trapping here. 

 Centre-barred Sallow

Barred Sallow

 

 Sallow

Orange Sallow

Another of the Autumn groups are the Thorns, altogether I've caught seven species, here are the three that I caught in September

 Large Thorn

 Dusky Thorn

Canary-shouldered Thorn

A mellow season

The NNE wind, blowing at around 25mph made birding along the cliff top less than comfortable, even if it gave a tail wind when walking back up the hill. There didn't seem so many birds around today, although Goldfinches continued to move north in small groups of from five to fifty. Occasionally the harsher call of a Brambling could be heard overhead as well as the high pitched calls of one or two Siskins.

In the farm yard there were still a few Goldcrests calling from the trees and plenty of Chaffinches around.

Looking through the Chaffinches on the large Sycamore tree in the middle of the yard one or two Bramblings could be seen with them. Sycamores are alien species and it is often said that they do little for native species, since they don't have a natural community of invertebrates that has evolved with them. I'm sure that this is, in the most part true, but in the autumn it is usual to find many migrant birds feeding in them, presumable finding something to their liking.

Delicate (Aporophyla nigra)

Mothing in the last few days has produced a few more interesting moths. Autumn has several groups that have colour schemes that seem to be mostly based around pale creams and yellows, such as the thorns and the sallows, and several of the late migrants fit in with this pattern. The Delicate is a attractive moth with a look that lives up to it's name. I had a bumper year in 2006, when I trapped over 70 of this migrant, but only a few in 2007 and 2008 and none last year. Last night's two bring the total this year to seven. As they can be around until the beginning of November this year could be a bit of a better year.

Large Wainscot (Rhizedra lutosa)

The Large Wainscot is a moth of reed beds and riversides, neither of which are found in St Margaret's. As with the Delicate the majority of records I have are from 2006, at the same time that I was recording lots of other migrants. I wonder if the Large Wainscots that wander to my garden do so from the other side of the Channel.

Yellow-line Quaker (Agrochola macilenta)

The Yellow-line Quaker is a widespread resident in the UK, and in the south the caterpillars feed mainly on the leaves of deciduous trees. I normally only catch one or two a year, but I'm already up to four this year. This is probably because it is the first time I've sited one of my "Black" light traps in the front garden, were they've all been.

Barred Sallow (Xanthia aurago)

Never a common moth in my garden, where I catch quite a few Centre-barred Sallows a few weeks earlier. The Barred Sallow (caterpillars) is listed as feeding on Field Maple, and we have a few acer trees of various varieties which it could feed on.

Pale-lemon Sallow (Xanthia ocellaris)

I saw one of these when I popped into Sandwich B. O. the other day. It is quite alocal species and it was the first I'd seen. It isn't the most striking moth, probably the dullest of the Sallows, but it does have a characteristic hooped wing tip shape. I was quite surprised to find one in my trap yesterday morning. I think that this is the 16th new species of Macro for the year.

Green-brindled Crescent (Allophyes oxyacanthae)

Despite having caught one or two of these in most years that I've been mothing I completely failed to recognise this yesterday. Only after I'd sent a picture to Nigel (my usual identifier), and before he'd replied, did I realise what it was. His answer wasn't long in coming and I was pleased that it co-incided with my id.