Strange things have been happening on the mothing front with unprecedented low counts. Low night time temperatures doubtless did not help but this does not explain the total absence of so many species. On the last day of June night time temperatures fell for a second night on the trot to really chilly single digits, with a total count of just 7moths, whereas only a week earlier the total had been 150. This is the lowest count for the end of June I have recorded since I first started monitoring moth populations some 15 years ago.
There are, of course, many moths which are happy to fly in colder temperatures, but these are generally the late autumn and winter species. The moths which fly in our summer months most definitely prefer far warmer times, a bit like me in that respect. The ideal conditions at this time of the year are night time lows of about 15C, with calm, windless conditions and an absence of bats!
There have been some notable absences from my records and for the fourth consecutive year I have not seen any Puss moths. These are such glamourous, big creatures and a huge delight – large white moths with intricate red and buff fine tracings. Some say they have a cat-like appearance, but I cannot see this. I miss them terribly and am left wondering why they have disappeared.
The village open garden event went well, although I have to admit having the heebie jeebies with only 10 days to go. The daily spells of quite heavy showers meant I could not mow the grass and then when I did the mower broke down – water in the carburettor of all things. About 100 people came to see us, so a big thank you to all those who braved the heat. Our bog garden has never looked better and the astilbe collection provides a wall of frothy colour.
I have decided to rename the common blackbird, or more precisely the young ones. I call them the scuttlers. They don’t fly much, but simply scuttle along the ground. This can be quite disconcerting at times when you catch movement out of the corner of your eye and are left wondering if it was a bird or something far worse! I think that generally this season has been a good one for the birds, but there have definitely been more, too many at times, flying into the windows.
Paul 841696
