NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Here is one of the two Dark Spectacles that came to the garden MV last night. After singles in 2014 and 2015, these are the 3rd and 4th records, so it appears to be colonising locally. I didn't see this moth until 2012, when a single at Greatstone in Kent made me realise that I wasn't overlooking this species, and it was just missing back home in Banstead. It isn't that uncommon nearby in Surrey, so why they were shy of my small plot of land I'll never know - they seem to like it now.

Long overdue as a garden tick this morning was Dark Spectacle (above). I've only ever seen this species down at Dungeness, so I don't come across it very often. The garden macro list now stands at 397 species (since 1987). Of these I have recorded 37 species just the once. Why I thought that fact might be of interest to you, I don't know...