Blair's Wainscot

The sound of hammering rain woke me this morning, much too early, and during a brief lull I trotted outside to bring in the moth trap. Among the 14 moths were two I didn't recognise. One was a micro, which turned out to be Plodia interpunctella, or Indian Meal Moth. I'm not sure where that came from, but there are only two dots on the Dorset Living Record map - both near Dorchester - so I'm guessing it is pretty uncommon locally.

The other new moth was obviously a wainscot of some description, and I had a hopeful suspicion of its identity due to a very recent 'first for Portland' which featured on my Twitter feed on Friday morning. The field guide appeared to confirm it, but I waited for a bit of expert feedback before I got too excited. So, here it is...

Blair's Wainscot

This is a genuine rarity. A little bit of research tells me that there is a very small breeding presence in East Dorset, but otherwise we are talking rare immigrant. For example, Devon had its first in 2020, not far from Exeter. Here it is again, alongside a Large Wainscot...

Large Wainscot and Blair's Wainscot

And finally, here is the slightly tatty Indian Meal Moth...

I don't know whether my first few months' moth-trapping experience is in any way typical, but it strikes me that the occasional scarce, or even rare, moth is almost to be expected, certainly more so than with birds. Is that because there are simply so many species out there? Or have I just been ridiculously jammy? At the end of the year I intend to put together a rare/scarce/immigrant summary. I think the numbers and diversity might surprise me...

A quick bit of birding this morning was worthwhile. Though I couldn't find anything new, the Barred Warbler showed quite well, if not that close. The light was a bit dire, but a couple of pics nonetheless...

Barred Warbler in typical pose just prior to diving into cover.