No Rannoch Loopers Yet...

A small, inconspicuous brown moth is making Twitter headlines right now. Away from its Scottish Highlands stronghold, Rannoch Looper is rare in the UK, and the few Dorset records no doubt relate to immigrants from the Continent, whence it occasionally overspills in modest numbers. Like now. Most of the current arrival are being recorded on the east coast, but you never know. And at least my search image is fresh.

Twitter is great for moth news. I follow several other moth botherers, from beginners like me to experienced light-trap veterans. Many post highlights of their latest catches, which gives me a heads-up regarding what common species are freshly emerged and some of the less-everyday species to look out for. Because of this, I was able to put a name to a few of the last three nights' moths despite never having caught them before...

Thursday night

Many years ago I would have been camped out with fishing rods as the sun set, eagerly awaiting midnight and the start of the coarse fishing season. How times change. In 2023 I was prancing about the garden with a net, swiping at teeny moths. Which was a lot of childish fun, though most of the following were not netted...

92 moths of 42 species. Four new for year, three new for garden.

Lilac Beauty. This one was netted actually. New for the garden, and not on my radar at all. A truly stunning moth, with delicate markings, a bizarre resting posture and, yes, lilac bits.

Snout. Common, and appropriately named.

Shears. New for the garden, and apparently named after the 'shears' visible in its wing markings to those of an imaginative disposition.

Lobster Moth. New for the garden, this wooly mammoth is one of the most docile creatures I have had the pleasure of catching. If you don't know where it got that strange name, please google 'Lobster Moth larva'.

Small Fan-footed Wave. And small it is. First for 2023.

Friday night

114 moths of 50 species. Eight new for year, two new for garden.

The garden Plume Moth list stands at just five. I would like to add to that. In the meantime, this one is always welcome. An opportunistic shot captured outside the studio.

The first Cream-bordered Green Pea of 2023. We caught three last year. Potentially confusable with the next species, but totally different to my eye, with that 'tented' resting posture in addition to its whitish leading edge.

Tortrix viridana, or Green Oak Tortrix. Friday night's count of four is our best so far.

This is one of those little rolled-up moths that abound in grassland. Not long ago, I used to kick them up in numbers without a thought. Now that I know how many different species there are (including some scarcer ones) I shall look at them a bit more closely. Mind you, although this is a rather dark individual, C. culmella is dead common.

Muslin Footman. The first of the year. Small and flimsy is how I would describe this moth.

I've caught five Grey Pugs this year, all of which have misbehaved badly in the studio. This is the best shot so far.

First Setaceous Hebrew Character of 2023. In the mid-'90s I spent a weekend at Dungeness Bird Observatory in August. I have a memory of the warden, Dave Walker, emptying the moth trap and repeating 'Setaceous Hebrew Character' about a hundred times. It was my first encounter with the moth. The name stuck, and is forever associated with that morning.

This feathery pile of weirdness is a Pale Prominent, our first of the year.

Pale Prominent again. Still super-weird, but in more typical pose.

Thankfully I recognised this moth from last year, and saved myself a heap of time trawling fruitlessly through the micro-moth section of 'Manley'. It is a Pinion-streaked Snout, and smaller than a fair few micros. In fact, the next moth might well be larger...

A fairly hefty Tortrix, and a garden first. Common though.

Saturday night

Biggest count of 2023 so far, with 122 moths of 58 species. Nine new for year, but just one new for garden.

Blue-bordered Carpet. A pretty little moth. The first of 2023.

First Burnished Brass of the year. One of my all-time favourite moths. Gorgeous.

First Beautiful Hook-tip of the year. Always a smaller moth than I expect.

Common Emerald. It may be common, but it's also green. And all green moths are special.

Double-striped Pug. Easily the most regular pug I catch, but this one is as fresh as a daisy. Lovely.

First Sandy Carpet of 2023. Caught just two last year.

Really nice to catch this lovely Sharp-angled Carpet in the wake of the previous post's Cloaked Carpet. The garden's second.

There is always a load of bycatch in and around the moth trap. Rarely is any of it this spectacular though. Giant Lacewing Osmylus fulvicephalus is roughly 3cm long and quite an amazing beast. This is our second, but the first - a few days ago - avoided the camera.

The 2023 moth tally stands at 243 right now, including a few aggregates. I still intend to work out how many species we've caught since starting out just over a year ago, but it's more than enough admin just to keep up with the 2023 totals. One day...