Two more micro moths added to year list.

Monday 3rd June 2024.

Yellow Oak Tortrix, my first of the year.

It is back to Pembroke Road this morning and though I set my alarm for 6am, I was up at 5am instead. The ‘Body Clock’ will not let me lay in and what with the light shining into the bedroom, I had to get up. I was glad I did as when I stepped into the garden, I flushed around four House Sparrows perched just above my box on the Kitchen roof! It looks as though they have now ‘cottoned on’ about my moth box and an easy food source to feed their young and so I might have to set the alarm clock even earlier now! Sob! On a positive note, there were 41 moths of 23 species and among them was a Silver-ground Carpet perched on the white sheet behind the Moth Box. After finding one at Noar Hill last Saturday, I was surprised to find one in my garden and a good moth too. There were two moths that were new for the year; both micro moths called Yellow Oak Tortrix (Aleimma loeflingiana) and Pale-backed Detritus Moth (Monopis crocicapitella), both being pretty little moths that are regular to my garden.

Above, a Pale-backed Detritus Moth, which was also new for the year. Below, a Least Black Arches moth.

The moths present this morning included the following:

• Silver-ground Carpet
• Garden Carpet 4
• Bright-line Brown-eye
• Heart & Dart 6
• Pale Mottled Willow
• Buff Ermine
• Shuttle-shaped Dart 2
• Dark Arches
• Marbled Minor
• Least Black Arches
• Willow Beauty 3
• Common Pug
• Lime-speck Pug
• Green Pug
• Common Marbled Carpet
• White Ermine 2
• White-point
• Large Pale Masoner 2
• Yellow Oak Tortrix (New for Year)
• Ruddy Streak
• Pale-backed Detritus Moth
• Blushed Knot-horn 6

My second Silver-ground Carpet in just a few days; but my first one this year in my garden.

My Moth Box also attracts other insects and this morning, there was a Short-tailed Ichneumon Wasp; not a friendly insect to the moths either! There was no sight or sound of yesterday's Reed Warbler in the gardens, but a good flock of 8 Swifts circling low overhead and giving off their single note call. I shall be checking this week on how many of the nest boxes are being occupied in my street. Just 11 species seen this morning on my two shifts at Pembroke Road; nothing unusual, but it was nice to see at least 30+ Starlings feeding on the short grass on Governor’s Green, which included many squawking juveniles among the adults. A couple of Holly Blue butterflies were fluttering about across the road and plenty of Buff-tailed Bumblebees and a few other species making the most of the flowering plants around me. In Hampshire today, a Golden Oriole was heard briefly at Denny Lodge Enclosure and fellow ‘Lazee’ Mark Francis heard a Bee-eater calling along the Canal Path at Titchfield; however, there was no sighting of the bird, sadly.

The Bats were out tonight over my back garden with at least two present. Most likely, they were Pipistrelle Bats.