What a difference a week makes. After such a cold start to the year, a touch of sun seemed to spur the hedgerows into life and the first real flush of green was very noticeable. I saw my first butterflies of the year, a Brimstone and a couple of Peacocks early in the week, plenty of Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins over the River Ure, Chiffchaffs singing everywhere. So the promise of a mild evening on Tuesday (23rd April) meant dusting off the moth trap, the first trapping session since what seemed the last mild night back in early January.
So, off to that old favourite, Pilmoor, on the old railway line, and in four hours trapping managed a very creditable total of 300 moths of 20 species. No real surprises, the majority of the moths were Diurnea fagella a common birch-feeder, a few Orthosias, and a handful of Eriocrania sp., but did include one of my favourite spring moths, a Streamer.
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| Semioscopis steinkellneriana |
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| Streamer |
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| Water Carpet - f. piceata |
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| Pale Pinion |
