~ Saturday 6th February 2010 ~

Dave Maunder reported the following recent sightings: "A couple more early sightings for Aylesbury, Bucks: on 4th February were my first Pale Brindled Beauty of the year and 3 Early Moths. Then on 5th February I found a Spring Usher on a house near mine - the first I've ever come across in town!"

Spring Usher Photo © Dave Maunder

David Redhead sent this news on 3rd February: "Una Fenton found a Green-brindled Crescent egg at the Bullingdon Prison Brown Hairstreak egg hunt on Friday 29th January. Blue-bordered Carpet eggs were also found there as well as at Otmoor RSPB on New Year's Day and I found some at Astons Eyot in Oxford during January."

~ Saturday 30th January 2010 ~

Dave Wilton sent this news today, 30th January: "On 28th January, while searching for Brown Hairstreak eggs in Island Pond Wood at Launton (a Woodland Trust millennium planting near Bicester, Oxon), I found a hibernating Drinker caterpillar and several Blue-bordered Carpet eggs."

Paul Bowyer reported the following on 26th January: "On Monday January 25th I was called to our member Karen Roberts' house to identify a moth settled on the door of her microwave oven. It was a Double-striped Pug, location Hazlemere Road, Penn in Bucks, backing on to Common Wood."

~ Wednesday 20th January 2010 ~

Dave Maunder sent this report on 19th January: "As with a few others, I've recently seen my first batch of new-year moths, starting with an Early moth on the 18th January, then after last night's relatively mild cloudy night I found Winter moths (4) and Mottled Umbers (4), some of which were nicely marked. I suppose the three weeks or so of icy weather held back the hatching of these moths - nice to see some at last! All these moths have been found, as usual, by checking security lights locally in Aylesbury, Bucks, after suitable nights!"

Dave Wilton reported the following on 19th January: "It never ceases to amaze me how resilient our winter-flying moths are. We have snow and/or temperatures well below freezing for seemingly weeks on end and then as soon as the conditions show a marginal (and probably short-lived) improvement the moths are back, as active as ever. I trapped in Finemere Wood near Quainton, Bucks for a couple of hours on 18th January and got 273 individuals of nine species. Newly-emerged were Pale Brindled Beauty (4), Spring Usher (15) and Early Moth (2). However, the majority were species that will have been on the wing in suitable weather since late last year, comprising Acleris hastiana (1), December Moth (2), Winter Moth (129), Mottled Umber (109), Satellite (3) & Chestnut (8). This is the latest that I've ever trapped December Moth. Martin Albertini tells me that prior to this season there were only three Bucks records beyond the end of December, all from 2002."

~ Sunday 17th January 2010 ~

Alastair Driver reported seeing these moths in Sonning, Berks on 17th January: "I was woken from hibernation with singles of Mottled Umber and Winter Moth on my porch window last night (16th January) - despite the pouring rain!"

This came from Derek Brown on 17th January: "I managed to get the trap out for an hour last night, 16th January, at Beenham (Berks) for the first time this year. This pulled in Mottled Umber (1), Chestnut (2), Winter Moth (2) and Satellite (3)."

Nigel Partridge reported the following on 16th January: "Attracted to the house lights (Loosley Row, Bucks)) last night, 15th January, were a Chestnut and a Satellite."

~ Tuesday 12th January 2010 ~

Adam Bassett sent this report on 8th January: "My first records of the year are a rather hardy Winter Moth which came to our porch light in Marlow Bottom, Bucks, on January 2nd and Agonopterix heracliana which was flying around the lounge on January 6th and had presumably been disturbed and come in with a sack of firewood."

~ Friday 8th January 2010 ~

Dave Wilton starts off 2010 with the following moth report: "This uncommon little moth, Mompha jurassicella, has been found indoors here at Westcott, Bucks many times over the past three winters and for the second year running has proved to be my first moth sighting of the year. It was found flying inside our conservatory during the evening of 6th January, the night that RAF Benson recorded a low of minus 18 Celsius. Not exactly good mothing weather!"

Mompha jurassicella Photo © Dave Wilton

~ Thursday 31st December 2009 ~

Final Moth Species Count for 2009 = 811 (437 Macro moths, 374 Micros)

Dave Wilton sent the following report on 27th December: "On 12th December a Northern Winter Moth made a welcome appearance at a lit window here at Westcott, Bucks. Two evenings later we had five Winter Moths and a Mottled Umber, once again to lit windows, but the subsequent cold snap seems to have put paid to any further moth activity. Just before Christmas Peter Hall completed a final batch of identifications for me of "difficult moths" from earlier in the year so I can now give you one more update to the UTB species list before it closes for 2009. It comprises just the one macro-moth, Lesser Common Rustic (Chinkwell Wood 23rd July), along with the following micro species: Acleris schalleriana (Westcott 26th October), Agonopterix angelicella (Bernwood 5th August), Anacampsis populella (Finemere Wood 11th August), Bryotropha similis (Bernwood 5th August), Bucculatrix ulmella (Finemere Wood 11th August), Cnephasia genitalana (Waddesdon Manor 13th August), Coleophora striatipennella (Westcott 12th August), Dioryctria abietella (Westcott 10th August), Eudonia truncicolella (Bernwood 17th August), Gelechia senticetella (Westcott 30th July), Grapholita janthinana (Chinkwell Wood 23rd July), Opostega salaciella (Westcott 22nd July), Phyllonorycter geniculella (Finemere Wood 25th July), Phyllonorycter harrisella (Finemere Wood 11th August), Phyllonorycter ulmifoliella (Bernwood 8th September), Phylloporia bistrigella (Bernwood 28th July), Psoricoptera gibbosella (Bernwood 5th August), Stigmella samiatella (Finemere Wood 11th August), Swammerdamia caesiella (Bernwood 5th August) and Tinea pellionella (Westcott 12th August). Stigmella samiatella was a county first for Bucks, while Gelechia senticetella and Opostega salaciella were second and third county records respectively."

Peter Hall provided the following: "This link: http://lepidoptera.fw.hu/emn/emn6/emn6.htm will enable you to view provisional data submitted to Ladislaus for the 2009 European Moth nights survey. The participants are being asked to report their provisional data to EMN-headquarters as soon as possible (collector name/names, country, locality/localities, number of days per locality, number of species exactly or approximately per locality - please "macro nocturnal moths only = Macroheterocera", that means neither Microlepidoptera nor butterflies!). Special thanks to those who have already done so. The deadline for submission of data either to the regional EMN-Ambassador or to EMN-headquarters: 1st March 2010."
If any of you still have data you would like to submit, Peter Hall can help. Send the files to Peter (see link at the top of this page) and he’ll make sure all basic information is there and send the data on.

Dave Maunder reported the following on 14th December: "A few more moths seen around Aylesbury recently were:- Mottled Umber (4) and Winter moths (8). Not much variety, I'm afraid, but nice to see good variation in markings of the Mottled Umbers - one of my favourite winter species."

[Reports for January to December 2009 have been archived.]