Autumn Green Carpet

My second Autumn Green Carpet of the year but first for the garden. 
This moth and its close relative the Red-green Carpet would make an interesting study. Both moths over-winter as the adult female and feed on a range of broad-leaved trees but whilst the Red-green first appeared in Derbyshire in the late 1980's and has become steadily commoner, expanding its range the Autumn Green has remained scarce in Derbyshire and is declining in southern Britain at least.

Autumn Green Carpet

Red Sword-grass

Caught my first Red Sword-grass for the garden last night, I have previously caught it at Clough Wood in the spring and Simon Roddis has also caught it on three or four occasions in Darley Dale so present in very low numbers in the area, otherwise the catch was similar to last night.

Red Sword-grass

November Moths

The majority of Epirrita I catch are almost uniform grey with little sign of any banding and no discal spot, these are two well marked individuals by my standards both of which I think conform to November Moth with regard to the shape of the post-median fascia even though the discal spot is well clear of the fascia.
Another reasonable catch last night with 2 Barred Sallow, another Feathered Thorn, 9 November Moths, 4 Brick, Merveille du Jour, 4 Yellow-line Quaker, Red-line Quaker, 3 Satellite, 2 Juniper Carpet, Angle Shades, Chestnut and a Brown-spot Pinion.

November Moth

Acleris ferrugana/ notana - Clough Wood

Trapping in Clough Wood with Brian Statham we were unable to escape the wind but still managed 3 November Moths, 3 Red-green Carpet, Large Yellow Underwing, Green-brindled Crescent, Merveille du Jour, Barred Sallow, 5 Brick, Chestnut, 2 Acleris sparsana and Acleris ferrugana/ notana.

Acleris ferrugana / notana

Warm but windy

Trapping at home last night in mild but windy conditions I recorded 3 Feathered Thorn, Spruce Carpet, November Moth, Juniper Carpet, 2 Yellow-line Quaker and a Brick.

Acleris rhombana - Clough Wood 16/10/11

Didn't pay all that much attention to this micro when we caught it last week, it's not in very good condition but looking at the photo it is clearly Acleris rhombana which is probably fairly common in the area.

Acleris rhombana

Last night's catch

Another mild evening with the minimum temperatures around 8 Centigrade again produced a reasonable catch; 9 November Moth, Spruce Carpet, 3 Juniper Carpet, 2 Red-green Carpet, 4 Yellow-line Quaker, 3 Brick, 3 Satellite, Blair's Shoulder-knot and a Silver Y.

Milder night 20th October

Overnight on the 20th the minimum temperature was around 8 Centigrade and a few moths took advantage of the warmer weather; 9 November Moth, 2 Juniper Carpet, Green-brindled Crescent, Yellow-line Quaker, Red-line Quaker and a Chestnut.

Too cold for moths

It's too cold for moths at the moment, just a couple of Juniper Carpet last night but came across this Ruby Tiger caterpillar enjoying the afternoon sun.

Ruby Tiger - caterpillar

Decent catch at home

Thirty-one moths of eleven species is not bad for mid-October. Thirteen November Moths (agg), 2 Satellite, 2 Barred Sallow, another Large Wainscott, 5 Juniper Carpet, 2 Red-green Carpet, Angle Shades, Large Yellow Underwing, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker and a Chestnut.

Diurnea lipsiella - Clough Wood

This is the micro from last night, Diurnea lipsiella, a male, the female like fagella has under developed wings. Not sure of the status in Derbyshire but I would imagine it is fairly common in mature oak woodland.

Diurnea lipsiella

The Streak - Clough Wood

With poor weather forecast I took the opportunity to trap again in Clough Wood this evening with Brian Statham and Simon Roddis. Despite falling temperatures, due to the cloudless sky, there were a few moths flying which included The Streak which was unexpected, although fairly widespread particularly as lavae on Broom the food plant.
Also recorded Red-green Carpet, 5 November Moth, 4 Green-brindled Crescent, The Brick, 3 Yellow-line Quaker, Barred Sallow, Lesser-yellow Underwing, 3 Chestnut and a micro still to id. 
The Streak makes it 300 macro moths for the year.

The Streak

Grey Shoulder-knot

Another Large Wainscott last night (fourth of the autumn) plus a fresh Grey Shoulder-knot which has a bit more colour than the over-wintered adult photographed in March. Single Juniper Carpet and three Green-brindled Crescent were the only other moths with the temperature falling to 4 Centigrade.

Grey Shoulder-knot

An autumn Juniper Carpet

Having posted a couple of unseasonal Juniper Carpet photos taken in July this is one from last night.

Juniper Carpet

Winter thrush arrival

Saw my first Fieldfare and Redwing of the autumn this morning, apparently 20,000 were estimated passing over the Big Moor area yesterday. There were several hundred on Bent Lane and at least one 1W Ring Ousel still present. Also several Crossbill in the area, Goshawk over Flash Lane and male Peregrine on Beeley.

Fieldfare