Newport Wetlands 23rd July

It took me about 2 hours to check through the 3 traps this morning.

Redhouse Barns, Robinson MV  - 60 species, including: 1 rosy footman, 1 round winged muslin, 2 small rufous, 1 gothic, 1 antler, 1 marbled green, 1 least Yellow Underwing, 2 elephant hawk, 1 poplar hawk, 1 female ghost moth, 1 garden tiger and 9 ruby tigers.

 Uskmouth Reedbeds, actinic Skinner trap. 14 species, including: 3 garden tiger, 54 silky wainscots, 9 obscure wainscots, 1 dark  sword grass, 29 southern wainscots, 1 brown-veined wainscot, 1 female drinker and 4 males. That's 93 reedbed wainscot specialists in total!

 Visitor Centre, Robinson MV - 42 species, including: 1 rosy footman, 1 garden tiger, 6 silky wainscots, 1 brown-veined wainscot, 8 Calamotropha paludella, 7 southern wainscots, 2 least yellow underwing, 1 obscure wainscot, 1 small rufous, 1 antler, 1 garden tiger and 2 ruby tiger.

                                                Garden Tiger Moth          Photo by Nick Felstead

I was particularly pleased with the catch in the actinic trap in the reedbeds. This is the most silky wainscots I've ever caught here. I trap in the same place regularly - in the "Ringers' Ride". This is a mown area in the middle of the reedbeds approx 100m long and 2m wide. I normally place the trap on the ground or on a bread crate to raise it slightly, but yesterday I found the reeds had grown to approx 50cm in height, so I placed the trap on top of a "work mate" type bench, raising it approx 70cm off the ground. I think this, coupled with the good weather, contributed to a bumper catch.
Thanks to Jane, Tara and Nick for coming to the "Moths in the Morning" event. Thanks to Nick Felstead for the excellent photo of one of the garden tigers from the actinic trap.