Bitter Sweet

I trapped once again last night as it was fairly overcast and mild (with lows of 8.5c and no wind). The trap was steady up until bedtime at around 11pm.

On my check around the trap at around 9pm I noticed an orangey dead moth entangled in a spider's web, drat! Not long is this mega frustrating, it's even worse when it's a cracking moth like a Dotted Chestnut! The 5th garden record, an annual singleton visitor to my garden.

 

But I was rewarded with only my 2nd Acleris cristana sitting on the vanes of the trap, i'm unsure how this species is so scarce here as there are ancient hedgerows full of Hawthorn & Blackthorn and it is a regular visitor to the lights at my local fen.

 

Other good moths included the second Red Chestnut of the year, a rather tw-toned example as well.

 

There were also many forms of Clouded Drab, one particular specimen stood out, with it's brown-blotched appearance.

 

61 moths was the best catch so far this year, or 11 different types.

 

The weather stays unsettled into the working week sadly. 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 37 species

07/03/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Dotted Chestnut 1 [NFY] 

Clouded Drab 7

Common Quaker 24

Early Grey 3

Hebrew Character 9

March Moth 3

Oak Beauty 3

Red Chestnut 1 

Small Quaker 8

Micro Moths 

 

Acleris cristana 1 [NFY] 

Emmelina monodactyla 1

 

Red Chestnut

Acleris cristana

Clouded Drab

Dotted Chestnut

Hebrew Character Variation

 

Shades of Grey

A real drop in moth numbers come Tuesday night with cooler and clear conditions overnight.

The day had been warm though, and this spurred me on to pop a few pheromone lures out (Both FUNebrana and ARGyrana) 

After work I checked the buckets and was pleasantly surprised to find two Pammene giganteana in each of the traps.

The traps are now away in the shed until other species come on the wing towards April.

 

Overnight, just the one new species for the year, an Early Grey, I also got another grey moth, the 4th specimen of Grey Shoulder-knot this year, unprecedented for my garden!

 

The continuing theme is warm days cold nights. 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 35 species

03/03/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Early Grey 1 [NFY] 

Clouded Drab 2

Common Quaker 8

Grey Shoulder-knot 1 

Hebrew Character 3

March Moth 3

Oak Beauty 1

Small Quaker 1

Micro Moths 

 

Pammene giganteana 4 [NFY] 

Emmelina monodactyla 2

 

Pammene giganteana

Clouded Drab

Early Grey

Grey Shoulder-knot and Early Grey

 

Trapping & netting

It's nearly that time again, where the net gets a bit of action once more, if conditions allow and I made a brave effort on Monday evening after dinner whilst my son played in the garden and was potting as many Ladybirds as he could find!

One micro found the back of the net, a new species for the year, an Epermenia chaerophyllella fresh out of hibernation.

I did see one other moth but a gust of wind blew it away from my garden.

 

It's still not quite warm enough for dusking just yet, but you've got to try.

 

Overnight the trap did very well despite lows of 5 degrees, I think it had something to do with the 17 degrees recorded during the day!

 

Two new species were added, a couple of nice Twin-spotted Quaker's the biggest of the Orthosia genus (Although recently changed to Anorthoa), and a Pale Pinion, an annual but scarce moth here.

 

30 moths was a nice return indeed. 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 33 species

02/03/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Pale Pinion 1 [NFY] 

Twin-spotted Quaker 2 [NFY]

Clouded Drab 3

Common Quaker 4

Early Moth 1 

Hebrew Character 3

March Moth 3

Oak Beauty 3

Small Quaker 2 

Micro Moths 

 

Epermenia chaerophyllella 1 [NFY] (netted)

Agonopterix heracliana 3

Diurnea fagella 3 

Emmelina monodactyla 2

 

Twin-spotted Quaker

Twin-spotted Quaker

Diurnea fagella

Diurnea fagella

Epermenia chaerophyllella

Pale Pinion

 

March starts with a fast-paced stride

What incredible weather we have been experiencing lately, with some unseasonably warm days heading towards the high teens and fairly mild nights (Although that is all change now, with typical early spring warm days and cold nights a feature in the coming days).

A smaller but still decent catch on the night of the 1st of the month, with 11 species attending the trap, with two new species for the year, a crumpled up Double-striperd Pug, and my annual one specimen of Pine Beauty, an uncommon but regular moth here between the end of February and end of March.

Mainly a macro show, the micros haven't really got going yet.

The weather ahead looks very good for early March. 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 30 species

01/03/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Double-striped Pug 1 [NFY] 

Pine Beauty 1 [NFY]

Clouded Drab 1

Common Quaker 6

Grey Shoulder-knot 1

Hebrew Character 4

March Moth 1

Oak Beauty 3

Small Quaker 2 

Micro Moths 

 

Agonopterix alstromeriana 1  

Emmelina monodactyla 1

 

Double-striped Pug

Pine Beauty

 

A new garden micro moth!

It's always nice to get a new species for the garden.

It was Ypsolopha mucronella's turn last night, a sporadic visitor to light, and looking back at my previous records it's not that common. The caterpillar feeds from Spindle.

Overall it was the best night of the month (And possibly best night ever in February) with 40 moths of 12 species.

Two other species were new for the year, a very nicely marked Lead-coloured Drab, and an equally impressive smart Acleris literana. 

 

The 2nd Black-spotted Chestnut of the year was also recorded.

 

Hebrews and Quakers are going neck and neck for top position currently, making up over half of the catch.

 

The trap is getting a break for a few nights now. 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 28 species

27/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Lead-coloured Drab 1 [NFY] 

Black-spotted Chestnut 1 

Clouded Drab 2

Common Quaker 12

Dotted Border 1

Hebrew Character 10

March Moth 6

Oak Beauty 3

Small Quaker 1 

Micro Moths 

 

Acleris literana 1 [NFY]

Ypsolopha mucronella 1 [NFG]

Agonopterix alstromeriana 1  

Agonopterix heracliana 2 

 

Ypsolopha mucronella

Acleris literana

Black-spotted Chestnut

Lead-coloured Drab

 

Another double catch

A brief post on two catches I made on Tuesday & Wednesday night.

Tuesday was the better night despite being cooler, but Wednesday was warmer with a keen breeze, so that probably had a lot to do with it.

Best moth was a Shoulder-stripe, only the third garden record and one I dipped on last year.

Clouded Drab was new also and several forms were observed.

4 new ones for the year on Tuesday, but only 1 on Wednesday, a pair of dainty little Twenty-plume moths. 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 25 species

 

24/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Clouded Drab 1 [NFY]

Dotted Border 1 [NFY]

Shoulder-stripe 1 [NFY] 

Common Quaker 6

Hebrew Character 10

March Moth 6

Oak Beauty 4 

Micro Moths 

 

Emmelina monodactyla 1 [NFY]

Agonopterix alstromeriana 1  

Agonopterix heracliana 2 

 

 

25/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Clouded Drab 3

Common Quaker 10

Dotted Border 1 

Hebrew Character 3

March Moth 9

Oak Beauty 3

Small Quaker 3 

Micro Moths 

 

Alucita hexadactyla 2 [NFY]

Agonopterix alstromeriana 1  

 

Emmelina monodactyla

Shoulder-stripe

Alucita hexadactyla

Clouded Drab

Clouded Drab

 

 

 

First signs of Spring

On the same day as the local Sallow trees bursting into life, with their bushy catkins glowing bright yellow in the morning twilight, the trap was busy with moths once more.

It had been quite wet leading up to the start of the week, and a few of the moths were a bit worse for wear.

I've also had issues with my patio being extremely damp and thus moths sticking to it upside down, so i've had to lay sheets and towels out! Nightmare.

Monday night started brilliantly, with 6 new species added to the year list. 

Red Chestnut was a good recortd, sadly worn but it represents my earliest ever in nineteen years by 14 days.

A 2nd garden record of Small Brindled Beauty was also a nice surprise alongside a couple of Oak Beauties which in contrast, are much more regular here.

 

The first Small Quaker of the year was spider food, rescued from a web on our fence. By the morning it was dead sadly. 

I ended up with 20 moths of 12 species. 

 

I always find photography challenging this time of year, with poor light.

 

The temperature remains mild during the days (14-17c) and couple spur on a few more species to come on the wing.

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 20 species

 

23/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Oak Beauty 2 [NFY] 

Oak Nycteoline 1 [NFY]

Red Chestnut 1 [NFY] 

Small Brindled Beauty 1 [NFY] 

Small Quaker 1 [NFY] 

Common Quaker 4

Grey Shoulder-knot (2nd example for the year) 

Hebrew Character 5

March Moth 1

Pale Brindled Beauty 1

Micro Moths 

 

Diurnea fagella 1 [NFY]

Agonopterix alstromeriana 1  

 

Small Quaker

Diurnea fagella

Oak Beauty

Small Brindled Beauty

 

Weekend Mothing

Mild weather is in charge currently, but cheesus (As my son would say) has it been windy! it's also been rather wet at times so not ideal for pristine moths.

It had been two full weeks since the trap had had its last outing, owing to it being either too cold or too windy, but come Saturday night, the odds were in favour of attracting at least something.

On Saturday night I managed 14 moths of 6 species

On Sunday night I managed 8 moths of 6 species.

 

Both good returns for my flat open garden with very little winter habitat or shelter.

 

The best moth was a Grey Shoulder-knot on the Saturday night. Sunday brought about another new species for the year, a 'brilliant white' Agonopterix alstromeriana, one of the commonest moths in my garden, with 100s of records throughout the year.

 

It's getting even milder as we head into the middle of the week.

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 14 species

 

21/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Grey Shoulder-knot 1 [NFY] 

Chestnut 2

Common Quaker 4

Hebrew Character 2

March Moth 4 

Pale Brindled Beauty 1

Micro Moths 

 

There were none!

 

 

22/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Chestnut 1

Common Quaker 3

Pale Brindled Beauty 1

Micro Moths 

 

Agnopterix alstromeriana 1 [NFY]

Acleris schalleriana 1 

Agonopterix heracliana 1

 

Grey Shoulder-knot

 

 

Rather damp but not too much squib

Better than expected overnight, with showers  and temperatures dropping to 7 degrees.

10 moths of 5 species was rather good for early February away from suitable habitat.

March Moths were my joint earliest record for the garden, and the Hebrew Character was 1 day earlier than the earliest ever recorded.

We go again tonight, and that might be it for awhile. 

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 12 species

 

08/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Hebrew Character 1 [NFY] 

March Moth 2 [NFY] 

Common Quaker 5

Pale Brindled Beauty 1

Micro Moths 

 

Agonopterix heracliana 1

 

Hebrew Character

March Moth

 

First moths for Feb

A little milder out there lately, so I popped the trap on on Friday night and again last night.

 

3 moths on Friday night and 6 last night was an average return for my garden in early February.

 

A trio of Common Quaker and duo of Tortricodes alternella were two species new for the year.

 

Might try again tonight if the rain isn't too heavy.

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 10 species

 

06/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

 

Pale Brindled Beauty 3

 

 

07/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

  

Common Quaker 3 [NFY] 

Pale Brindled Beauty 1

Micro Moths 

 

Tortricodes alternella 2 [NFY] 

 

Tortricodes alternella

Common Quaker

Tortricodes alternella

 

3rd outing for the year, 3 new species

On the 19th it was fairly mild at 8 degrees for most of the night, rising even higher towards dawn as cloud cover domninated.

Somehow we escaped the worst of the overnight rain and it was quite calm for January.

 

3 moths was the grand sum, a pitiful amount compared to most, but luckily they were all different species. 

 

There doesn't seem to be many opportunities to run the trap looking ahead.

 

Too wet, too windy, too cold, that typical January feeling eh. 

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 8 species

 

17/01/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

 

Black-spotted Chestnut 1 [NFY]

Dark Chestnut 1 [NFY] 

Micro Moths 

 

Agonopterix heracliana 1 [NFY] 

 

Dark Chestnut

Agonopterix heracliana

Black-spotted Chestnut

 

An influx of Early's

Another relatively mild night last night, saw the trap go out for the third time this year.

With highs of 10c during the day, and lows of 6.5c, I didn't expect anything really as it felt chilly, so I was pleasantly surprised to find moths on the wall of the house, as well as one inside it.

A garden record 4 Early Moths were found dotted around the house wall, and I even found a 5th on the shed at the bottom of the garden, unprecedented for here!

The moth inside the trap was of course a fast-flying Noctuid species, a diddy little Chestnut, a new species for the year.

A second species was also new for the year, a Pale Brindled Beauty and 10 days early.

 

I will try again tonight, maybe Monday night and then that's it as it is projected to get colder.

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 5 species

 

17/01/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

 

Chestnut 1 [NFY]

Pale Brindled Beauty 1 [NFY] 

Early Moth 5

Pale Brindled Beauty

Angle Shades Caterpillar

Chestnut

Early Moths

Welcome to 2026

First moths of the year in the garden this week. On Monday night I got a single Winter Moth & Acleris schalleriana, and last night (16th) I managed to muster 4 Winter Moths & a super Early Moth surprise, a species I missed out on last year.

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 3 species

12/01/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

 

Winter Moth 1 [NFY]

 

Micro Moths 

 

Acleris schalleriana 1 [NFY]

 

 

16/01/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths 

 

Early Moth 1 [NFY]

Winter Moth 4  

 

 

Winter Moth

Early Moth

Acleris schalleriana