Thanks to the heatwave

Heatwaves are perfect conditions for wandering moths, and the very warm nights of 24th and 25th June lived up to my hopes - indeed 25th exceeded my wildest dreams with a rare migrant new for Wales in the form of Shining Marbled. Two traps on the 24th held 8 Leopard Moth, Coleophora albidella, Eana incanana, Homoeosoma sinuella and Paraswamerdamia albicapitella among >100 species, but I felt a little disappointed after a 4am start until I lifted the sheet and spotted Dingestow's first Double-line. The Actinic produced just 25 species whereas the MV held nearly 100.

I didn't bother with the Actinic on 25th, but sat out with the MV until 01:00 in perfect conditions potting up Micros and logging each species as it arrived. I returned at 04:00 to log the remainder and estimate numbers. The final tally was somewhere in the region of 750 individuals of 144 species (92 Macro and 52 Micro) - pretty phenomenal! Star catch was Shining Marbled, but supporting cast included two Lunar-spotted Pinion (my first since 2006), 9 Leopard Moth, 3 Scarce Silver-lines, Red-necked Footman, Clay Triple-lines, Dingy Shears, Small Elephant Hawkmoth, Eyed Hawkmoth, Heart & Club, September Thorn, 2 Rhodophaea formosa, Mompha ochraceella (2nd Dingestow record), Hedya salicella (2nd), Limnaecia phragmitella, Batia lunaris and Eudonia pallida.