Scarce Umber - new for Dingestow

After all the excitement of recent migrant near misses, I figured last month's Delicate and Streak were the final firsts for Dingestow of 2018.  However, a mild(ish) night on 24th November combined with friends staying to persuade me to put the MV out.  The 5 species that appeared included a gorgeous Scarce Umber, which I was excited about as I've only seen one or two in my life.  What I didn't realise was that none of my previous sightings came from Dingestow - later checking revealed Scarce Umber to be new, and the 403rd Macro for the site.  This seems to be a genuinely scarce moth in Gwent/Wales, with a south-easterly distribution.  It is surely the last addition for the year, although forecast southerlies midweek may produce another migrant...

November (lack of) migrants

 

The nights of 15th and 16th November 2018 delivered Sahara Dust to Britain and plentiful migrants to many moth'ers (including some in Gwent, I hope). Numbers to MV at Dingestow were pretty good, with 30 species on 15th and 15 on 16th, but migrants on 15th were limited to 5 Dark Swordgrass, 4 Silver Y, 2 Plutella xylostella and 1 Udea ferugalis, with singles of the first three of these on 16th.  I was a tad disappointed!  Highlights were 2 Dark Arches and 1 Brimstone, neither seen previously here in November, plus a couple of Sprawlers.

 

Woodland Migrants

You wouldn't call mum's secluded woodland garden a hotspot for migrant activity, yet on the 21st October, she recorded this fine female Convolvulus Hawk-moth) Agrius convolvuli) and on 6th November, The Delicate (Mythimna vitellina). Other potential immigrants recorded during the same period were Dark Sword-grass (Agrotis ipsilon) and Silver Y (Autographa gamma). Glyn Wood, Tintern.