Mainly Moth

Autumn migration is gathering pace, yet I am strangely unmoved. In fact I have done zero birding since last Sunday, and even that was mainly a time-filler while waiting for the West Bex Tree Crickets to crank up. It's not as if there are no birds around. For example, the Mackerel were in at the weekend, chasing whitebait close inshore, and had attracted a healthy following of gulls. And I like gulls.

Between me and the angler you can see a little patch of disturbance where tiny fish are 'boiling' on the surface, plus a good number which have leapt out onto the shingle. I couldn't find anything unusual among the numerous gulls.

Instead of migrant birds, mostly I was distracted by migrant moths that evening. I had four pots in my bag, and as dusk fell they became home to the first four decent-sized moths that let me catch them. Every single one was potentially a migrant...

Clockwise from top: Turnip Moth, White-point x2, Bordered Straw.

All the above were right on the coast path, which lies just inland of West Bexington beach. At least a couple were nectaring on Ragwort, which seems very popular with many insects. In addition I saw another Bordered Straw, one or two Silver Ys, and loads of Rush Veneers - all migrants, most probably. That was in just a short spell prior to darkness, after which it was all about the Tree Crickets.

As you might imagine, having seen this lot just a few miles away on the coast, all week I have been hoping for some nice migrants in the garden moth trap too. Well...

This morning's prize: a rather worn Portland Ribbon Wave, our first. I'm not entirely sure where these come from (other than Portland!) but suspect there's a good chance that this one crossed the Channel.

The garden's 4th Bordered Straw. Definitely a migrant.

I'll stop wittering on now, and just post a load of this week's moth pics. One or two seem to be uncommon locally, but mostly I think they are fairly routine...

The vernacular name is Common Nettle-tap, and I believe it is exactly that, i.e. common, but this is the only one that's ever made it into the moth trap.

Orange Swift. Our second. Lovely.

Purple Bar. Almost pristine.

Six-striped Rustic. Quite common locally I think, but this is our first of this nicely-marked species.

Marbled Beauty. We used to see a lot of these back in Rickmansworth, Herts. Not sure that it's quite so common in Bridport.

Square-spot Rustic. Another common one.

Small Square-spot. Also common.

Lime-speck Pug. This little beauty was sheltering beneath the eaves of the garden cabin during Tuesday's rain.

Also known as Elbow-striped Grass-veneer. Just one of those myriad little moths which flush out from under your feet, then roll up into a tight tube upon landing. Nice though, isn't it?

Wax Moth. Technically a micro-moth, but very much not micro. Not that many local records.

Another common one.

Blair's Mocha. Roughly 200 Bridport records on Living Record now. Pretty uncommon most other places.

Maiden's Blush. One of three on Monday night.

Small Rufous. A wetland species which feeds on various rushes, this seems a bit of an odd one to get in the garden trap. A number of Bridport records though.

Pale Mottled Willow. Only our second, but common locally. At first glance it looks a dull, grey thing. But a close look reveals subtle tawny markings here and there. I love that.

Straw Underwing. The largest moth in today's gallery, and not common locally. There only seem to be a small number of Bridport records.

A moth I recently caught by hand at West Bexington, and about which I said: '...hopefully will also wind up in the garden trap one day.' Well, it did.

A common moth apparently, but not many Bridport records.

Otherwise known as Large Lance-wing, and the scarcest moth in this post. Not many Dorset records (25-ish on Living Record) and apparently none west of Abbotsbury. Until now.

So yes, the mothing has been fun, and thrown up a few nice surprises. Even the common ones are frequently gorgeous, so it is never a chore to pick through them. I have no idea what the garden tally is currently, but we still haven't had a single catch without a new species in it.

If I am fortunate enough to find a decent bird this autumn, I definitely will not have deserved it!