The Bagsy Blog: Pestilence and Plague

Friday 31 October 2014

Pestilence and Plague - Judas Priest

With overnight temperatures 'STILL' remaining unseasonably high, Moths STILL continue to be caught! The average nightly catch over the past week has been 68 Insects of 18 species from 4 traps, with the following showing some of the success rate.

New to the 2014 List

SATELLITE
and

the diminutive migrant

SMALL MOTTLED WILLOW
A regular and fairly common visitor to our shores,
but have any 'numbers' arrived so far this year?
While we thought it best to put 'Firsts' (of the year) things First,
we have caught a Moth, in the last couple of days, which outshines them all.

While these two 'colour varients' of
VESTAL
clearly indicate how different shades can be in this particular species, the
'Show Stealer'

surely has to be this one.

I am told that this 'tiny' migrant Moth can originate from as far south
as the North Africa and, as distance increased and by definition
temperature rises, so does the darkness of colouration.
To quote Skinner
Variation. Wild-caught specimens usually resemble one of the two forms figured;

however, in captivity temperature experiments with the Pupae will
produce a wider range of dark brown and bright crimson colour forms.

On the strength of that it is assumed that our specimen either comes
from the Sahara Desert or Chiefies Laboratory next door?

FEATHERED THORN

SPRUCE CARPET

and still a
SNOUT
about.

ROBBERFLY Sp
was all from the traps, while

From the 'plague', which were mainly

HARLEQUIN LADYBIRDS

just an example of numbers that took less than 5 minutes to collect
from the front of Slight Return II.

HARLEQUIN
and far smaller numbers of

7-SPOT LADYBIRD
During our daily visits to the Pond it has been found that the
Bird Table
hasn't exactly been overwhelmed with veracious feeders.
However, just yesterday we had 2 new species not seen there before.

Our 'fifth' species was an unexpected

REED BUNTING

followed a few minutes later by a long overdue

CHAFFINCH

MEADOW PIPIT
still remain but, like 'everything' else numbers are becoming much reduced.

LONG-TAILED TIT
meanwhile have not plucked up the courage to climb onboard,

but more encouraging were the
GOLDFINCH
feeding on Redshank and 'taking' water from, and bathing in,
the boggy patch recently cleared of branches and bows.