Norfolk moths: Rockland St. Peter garden, 1 April 2014

The day was fairly warm – perhaps 15°C – but the sun has been obscured over the past several days by a kind of smog, both local air pollution from the UK Midlands and dust blown in from the Sahara. The night began overcast with high, white cloud and a temperature of 9.6°C at 21h00 (an hour after I turned on the trap). There was a thin, waxing crescent moon and a very light E wind. By 05h00 it was calm and there appeared to be a mist in the air, much of which proved to be particulate. The temperature on turning off the trap at 06h00 was 6.4°C.

The catch was about half that of the previous night, the only new moth for the year being a fresh Spectacle, flying a couple of months ahead of schedule: "this moth is out in June, sometimes late May" (South 1908). A single Pale Pinion – a different individual to the one caught at the weekend  – rested on a nearby wall.

An early Spectacle Abrostola tripartita   

Macro-moths (69 moths of 10 spp.); no micros:-

Alsophila aescularia	March Moth	1
Selenia dentaria	Early Thorn	3
Biston strataria	Oak Beauty	1
Orthosia cruda	Small Quaker	23
Orthosia cerasi	Common Quaker	14
Orthosia incerta	Clouded Drab	13
Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character	11
Lithophane hepatica	Pale Pinion	1
Xylocampa areola	Early Grey	1
Abrostola tripartita	Spectacle	1

References

South, R. (1908) The moths of the British Isles, second series. Frederick Warne & Co.: London. 388 pp.