Species count was 'on the up' for the Pont Llogel event.

April in general had been a very cool month with trap catches on the low side throughout the county and as we approached the Pont Llogel event things weren’t looking too hopeful.  However, on Friday, the day before the event, the weather, in a very timely way, warmed up and this continued into Saturday as well, so we had a certain amount of optimism that more species would be on the wing than there had been for some time.

We arrived on site shortly after 8 pm and the two skinner traps and the white sheet were set up in good time before dusk. 

White sheet with a few moths attracted to it.

This gave us all a while to sort through a selection of ‘moth filled pots’ which Sue had brought along for us to id.  Also, Meurig had a selection of photos on his camera which he wanted us to check. Then it was time to put the traps on and there was a buzz of anticipation in the air – oh sorry, not for moths! The ‘buzz’ in question was a queen wasp which very quickly came to the white sheet. This reminded me of the Hornets we had at the Coed Pendugwm event last autumn, but no hornets were found this time.

Devon Carpet

Red-green Carpet

Despite the better weather conditions, moths weren’t exactly giving themselves up; it was a more ‘steady flow’ of species throughout the evening. First up was a Flame Shoulder and a rather nice orange form of the Common Marbled Carpet. The Pale Tussock and the Common Pug were seen in small numbers as was the Nut-tree tussock, Barred Umber and Marbled Brown. Singletons of the Brimstone Moth, Herald, Red-green Carpet, Peppered Moth, Lunar Thorn and Clouded Border all showed up at various times during the evening. Later in the evening a rather nice specimen of the Waved Umber came to the table, a camera clicking moment! 

Nut-tree Tussock

Marbled Brown

Once again micro moths were thin on the ground, with only four species being recorded; Nematopogon swammerdamella, Syndemis musculana, Capua vulgana and Alucita hexadactyla.

Capua vulgana

No migrant species were recorded at this event.

There probably wasn’t really a best species of the night as many were equally splendid, but one of the best moments was, definitely, when Sue broke out the chocolate cake, which was scrumptious indeed – many thanks to Sue for that.

Shortly after 1:00 am we decided to wrap things up and with 33 species recorded we didn’t do too badly at all. For a full species list please click Here.

The next event is at Roundton Nature Reserve on the 27 June.

Peter.