NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

The latest issue of Atropos has just arrived (click here to find out more about this wonderful journal) . One of the articles inside looks at the 'Top Ten most endangered moths in Britain'. They are: New Forest Burnet, Betony Case-bearer, Syncopacma albipalpella, Scythris siccella, Sussex Emerald, V-Moth, Speckled Footman, Stout Dart, Marsh Moth and Reddish Buff. I have seen but one of these - Sussex Emerald. However, to me, one of these species has an air of sadness about it, a shadow from the past that still sends out messages. I'd better explain. When I began to take moths seriously (1986), not only did I buy a moth trap and the newly published Skinner moth guide, I also obtained a report on the Butterflies and Moths of North-eastern Surrey , published by the Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society. It was a collation of all records up until the early 1970s. I used this as a guide as to what I might expect to discover in my garden, (which was then in Cheam). One...

Rosy Rustic - signs that autumn is on the way... Alliteration - don't you just love it? I could have gone further - 'A massive moth miscellany' or 'My meagre marvellous moth miscellany' but then that would be over-egging the pudding, wouldn't it? Back to the reality of the MV trap haul this morning. Numbers were depressed and by far the best species recorded was the autumn's first Rosy Rustic (I don't trap that many to be honest). It is shaping up to be a good time for Straw Dot - I recorded eight yesterday which is my highest single night count in Banstead, and another couple this morning. There are certain moths that evoke the passing seasons. When those cold winter mornings start to give up Brindled Beauties and Twin-spotted Quakers, I know that spring is on the way. When late April catches start to include prominents and Lime Hawk-moths, then summer is just around the corner. For me, it's high summer when Scalloped Oaks and Marbled Beaut...