1000 + 1 (Lincolnshire)

Slower progress made through August, again the moth trap adding most of the records with some rarities amongst them. Probably the scarcest moth I have ever seen was a Ypsolopha lucella, second Lincolnshire record and not many recorded anywhere in Britain. I am going to further research this species as I cannot find any recent records from any county un-less someone knows different. The 1000 species was a Tortrix moth Epinotia caprana another quite rare moth quickly following an Emerald Damselfly only the second I have seen locally. Another garden first was a Large Ear, I find that you need to dissect every Ear Type to be sure of the identification.

Started recording a few of the leaf-miners, looks as if it will be poor year as I yet to see one on Birch yet.

I have really enjoyed the challenge and certainly expanded my knowledge of other species especially the Hoverflies.

Will keep on going to the end of the year and hope to record 600 moth species from the garden.

Regards Martin Gray

SIX-STRIPED RUSTIC 7/8/13

CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN 8/8/13

GOLDEN-ROD PUG

SMALL PHOENIX

SMALL FAN-FOOTED WAVE

OEGOCONIA DEAURATELLA 8/8/13

ACLERIS LATERANA 9/8/13

AGONOPTERIX ARENELLA 9/8/13

FLOUNCED RUSTIC 10/8/13

RUFOUS MINOR 4/8/13

ENGRAILED 4/8/13

MINOR-SHOULDER KNOT

SALLOW KITTEN 4/8/13

BLACK BINDWEED 11/8/13

DERAEOCORUS RUBER (PLANT BUG) 11/8/13

DICHRORAMPHA AERATANA 10/8/13

PYRAUSTA AURATA 11/8/13

STIGMELLA HYBNERELLA 14/8/13

TAWNY-SPECKLED PUG 14/8/13

LATTICED HEATH 15/8/13

PHYLLONORYCTER CERASICOLELLA 18/8/13

STIGMELLA ANOMALELLA

EMMETIA MARGINEA

STIGMELLA AURELLA

PHYLLONORYCTER NICELLII

STIGMELLA SALICIS

STIGMELLA OBLIQUELLA

BUCCULATRIX BECHSTEINELLA

STIGMELLA TRIMACULELLA

PHYLLOCNISTIS UNIPUNCTELLA

BROAD-LEAVED WILLOWHERB

OPILO CANESTRINII (SPIDER) 18/8/13

LEIOBUNUM BLACKWALLI (SPIDER) 18/8/13

SALAD BURNET 18/8/13

GREEN SANDPIPER 20/8/13

SAND MARTIN 20/8/13

PHYTOCORIS TILIAE (PLANTBUG) 20/8/13

STIGMELLA MALELLA 20/8/13

RED UNDERWING 20/8/13

HYPATIMA RHOMBOIDELLA 20/8/13

MIGRANT HAWKER 21/8/13

RED POPPY 21/8/13

EPINOTIA RAMELLA 21/8/13

OLD LADY

OLIVE

MAPLE PUG 21/8/13

CHRYSOESTHIA DRUELLA 22/8/13

COMMON TOAD 22/8/13

YPSOLOPHA LUCELLA 23/8/13

TRIPLE-SPOTTED PUG 23/8/13

LARGE EAR 23/8/13

YPSOLOPHA NEMORELLA 23/8/13

DICRANOPALPUS RAMOSUS (HARVERTMAN SPIDER)

CENTRE-BARRED SALLOW 25/8/13

FEATHERED GOTHIC 25/8/13

SQUARE-SPOT RUSTIC 25/8/13

ACOLEPIA AUTUMNITELLA (LEAFMINE) 26/8/13

COMMON CENTAURY 26/8/13

SPECKLED BUSH CRICKET 26/8/13

BROWN-SPOT PINION 26/8/13

MONOPIS WEAVERELLA 26/8/13

APOTOMIS BETULETANA 26/8/13

ENCHANTERS NIGHTSHADE 27/8/13

PISAURA MIRABILIS (NURSEY WEB SPIDER) 27/8/13

PHYLLONORYCTER SPINICOLEELA (LEAFMINE) 27/8/13

EMERALD DAMSELFLY 27/8/13

1000 - EPINOTIA CAPRANA 27/8/13

SALLOW 29/8/13

Thankful for small mercies!

Well I am having a real struggle now to keep my total moving along, and even the moth trap failed to provide anything new last night.  One highlight was confirmation from my County Recorder this morning that a Cranefly I took on 20th July and sent to him has been accepted as Nigrotipula nigra - the first confirmed record for VC55, but other than that - it's been a case of being thankful for small mercies

 

As an indication of the sort of bits and bobs I have resorted to - my last four species all recorded yesterday were the bug Adarrus ocellaris, the weevil  Microplontus campestris, and two fruit flies Trypetoptera punctulata and Tephritis hyoscyami none of them much more than 5 mm long!

 

 

 

The result of all this scratching around takes my total to 1202 as at 30th August. Thanks to Andy for putting this challenge together - I know that it's motivated me to discover a whole range of species that I would have passed over previously - and I can see from other comments that other people have also gained new knowledge from doing it.

 

grahamc



90.8% for Durham

It's been a good month for the list and despite being away in Croatia for a while, I've gone past the 90% mark today.
As with many others it's been the moth trap that's been most productive and even giving me a couple of new ones for the garden including Ipimorpha subtusa (Olive) and  Mompha raschkiella  
 Having said that I am most pleased with the butterflies, having got everything I expected for in the square and after a fair bit of searching adding both White-letter and Purple Hairstreak to the 1ksq list. I knew they were both lurking somewhere, but to get 22 species in my square I'm really delighted and it's all thanks to this little challenge,  which is a joy.
 I'm also way past my expected bird list (by ten!) including a fly-over Yellow Wagtail yesterday which I thought I had dipped on as a bird in the spring did a U-turn meters away from the boundary. But not this one.
So it's the final straight and with me not back to work till next week and bit of effort I should not have to rely too much on bryophytes & fungi in the late autumn.

	Actual	Expected
Birds	80	70
Vascular Plants	320	395
Mosses & Liverworts	41	50
Lichens	12	12
Fungi & Slime Moulds	13	20
Terrestrial Mammals	7	8
Butterflies	22	20
Moths	262	336
Dragonflies	9	9
Hoverflies	25	25
Other inverts	115	50
Amphibians & Reptiles	2	5
Aggregates & hybrids (not included)	21
TOTAL	908	1000

SP5595ish Update

And just a quick un-illustrated one at that. I've managed one brief walk into the square on the 9th, though it was quite productive, and otherwise it's moth trapped stuff and odd bits from the garden. Things have slowed down a fair bir since the weather dropped off, but hopefully I'll get back out and about in the square next week. Up to 1044 now, with latest additions being:

	Taxon	Vernacular	Date Added
1014	Pachygaster leachii	(fly)	06/08/2013
1015	Gelechia senticetella	(micromoth)	08/08/2013
1016	Epinotia nisella	(micromoth)	08/08/2013
1017	Amphipyra tragopoginis	Mouse Moth	08/08/2013
1018	Pterostoma palpina	Pale Prominent	08/08/2013
1019	Ancylis badiana	(micromoth)	08/08/2013
1020	Eriothrix rufomaculata	(fly)	09/08/2013
1021	Polygonum aviculare	Knotgrass	09/08/2013
1022	Dicyphus epilobii	(bug)	09/08/2013
1023	Atriplex patula	Common Orache	09/08/2013
1024	Volucella inanis	(hoverfly)	09/08/2013
1025	Hypericum perforatum	Perforate St John's-wort	09/08/2013
1026	Medicago lupulina	Black Medick	09/08/2013
1027	Heterotoma planicornis	(bug)	09/08/2013
1028	Fenella nigrita	(sawfly) [larval]	09/08/2013
1029	Leucoptera malifoliella	Pear Leaf Blister Moth [larval]	09/08/2013
1030	Arge pagana	(sawfly) [larval]	09/08/2013
1031	Triphosa dubitata	Tissue	09/08/2013
1032	Ennomos fuscantaria	Dusky Thorn	09/08/2013
1033	Xestia xanthographa	Square-spot Rustic	09/08/2013
1034	Eudonia pallida	(micromoth)	09/08/2013
1035	Catocala nupta	Red Underwing	10/08/2013
1036	Euzophera pinguis	(micromoth)	10/08/2013
1037	Aphodius rufipes	(beetle)	10/08/2013
1038	Ypsolopha dentella	Honeysuckle Moth	10/08/2013
1039	Xestia sexstrigata	Six-striped Rustic	10/08/2013
1040	Nonagria typhae	Bulrush Wainscot	10/08/2013
1041	Caloptilia syringella	(micromoth)	10/08/2013
1042	Dolichovespula media	Median Wasp	14/08/2013
1043	Chilocorus renipustulatus	Kidney-spot Ladybird	16/08/2013
1044	Coleophora alcyonipennella	(micromoth)	16/08/2013

Made it - 1001!

After the last post I did make it past 900 by the end of July, with busy moth traps making a big contribution plus a surprising number of new plants and bits and bobs such as eventual Slow-worm, and (desperation?) a few rusts and the like. The list stood at 923 at the start of August but progress then slowed to what seemed like a snail's pace. I was away quite a bit with work, the heatwave and high-summer peaks of insects seemed to be over.

Moths continued to be better than in recent years, though, with the garden's first Sharp-angled Peacock and more migrants too - up to 20 Silver Y at the lavender in the front garden and a couple of Dark Sword-grass in the trap. Several Clouded Yellows were seen locally last weekend while we were away, so I might still be able to add that (and hopefully Painted Lady to the butterfly tally).  

Plants included some splendid alien grasses Digitaria sanguinalis and Polypogon viridis (the latter seems to be increasing greatly round the Bristol area). I finally found Rosebay Willowherb without having to scope the railway embankment (I don't think it's there anyway)  - as a weed in a planter outside the pub (quality!).  

 















                                                             Brachmia blandella



 The 1000th species for the Pilning square finally fell this afternoon after yet another search of the cycle path and its associated hedges, ditch and grass verges, the mighty Nut Bud Moth (Epinotia tenerana) taking the honour. Sorry about the dreadful pic but it flew off when I tried to get it to pose on a leaf (I find tortix moths are somewhat disobedient and in fact can't be taught tricks). 

I agree with Mark - it's been a blast, thanks Andy! I have become particularly fond of hoverflies and bugs (did I mention that before?). I will also now be spending more time attempting to find a half decent bird (i.e. outside the square, let's be realistic here) while making regular but less frequent visits to the square itself mainly when recruited to pick produce on the allotment. This is the best bit of habo in the patch (the drawback being its regular use by a seemingly huge dog).

1000 in Guernsey - Yipee-kay-ay!!

After a pretty good moth trap on the night of 11th Aug, I had reached 998 species. Then I remembered I had a dead, crusty dagger sp in the fridge, which I hacked at to make 999. So with one species to go I had visions of something magical happening for the 1000 - a flock of Bee-eaters circling overhead, or a Swallowtail flapping by. So, even though I had a few dead micromoths in the freezer I decided to let the finish tape come to me. 

After two full days of scanning the skies above,and straining at every movement, I gave up and put the moth trap out and..... nothing new! First time for ages! So, yesterday I spent another day waiting for 'the boy', but again to no avail. This morning however, the moth trap came up with the goods - a Bordered Beauty, a fine-looking moth to hit the 1000. I was pleased.

986 - Flounced Rustic
987 - Pammene aurita - a garden moth tick
988 - Clouded Yellow
989 - Bread Wheat - surprised to see a few spikes of Wheat sticking up out of the grass at the side of the road - no idea where they grow it round here.

990 - Liocoris tripustulatus (bug)

 

991 - Tawny-speckled Pug

992 - Agrypnia varia (caddis)
993 - Cheilosia pagana (hoverfly)
994 - Pyrausta aurata (moth)
995 - Marbled Beauty
996 - Webb's Wainscot - a lifer for me!
997 - Ant-lion - Was really, really hoping to get one of these. Only seen one before, which was here in the garden about 8 yrs ago. Larval pits not too rare here I don't think but certainly not common.

 998 - Antler Moth - A superb second-for-Guernsey. Only seen them in Scotland.

999 - Grey Dagger
1000 - Bordered Beauty

Now that I have hit the target, I will certainly be slowing down quite a bit. I will still record everything I come across and keep moth trapping, so my list will increase. But if I have a couple of free hours at the weekend for example, I will more likely hit the coast to look for rare birds, than wander the lanes of my square like I have been doing. So thanks Andy for setting up the challenge, it's been a hoot. I have learned more this year about the local wildlife than I have in the last 10 years put together. And thanks to everyone else for supporting the project and spurring each other on. Cheers!

TQ6410 - Plodding along ....

I don’t mind admitting I’ve almost ground to a crawl on the 1KSQ front during July which should have been one of the most productive months of the year. But some pretty serious, heavy-duty family stuff has been on-going behind the scenes recently and while all this hasn’t prevented me from occasionally walking around the square or even running the odd moth-trap here on the plot (but see also below), my main focus has necessarily been well away from TQ6410 of late. The recent hot weather and moth-trapping efforts also delivered a bit of a double whammy here and partly explain why I’m not exactly racing towards that elusive four-figure total as quite a few others have already impressively achieved.

On the one hand, more moths than I can possibly deal with, seem to end up in, around, on top of, or even underneath the old trap (as well as in the workshop when they’ve flown out of the trap), never mind all those hanging up or hiding away in the vegetation in the plot’s upper meadow/trapping area. Not only that, but I still haven’t quite got the hang of this moth-trapping malarkey, even after weeks and months of pink and orange blobs looming in front of me, eyes opened or closed. On more than one occasion last month, I found myself still crawling around on hands and knees with a torch in the dewy grass near the trap in the upper meadow, pill-boxes over-flowing, just as the first light of dawn straddled the north-eastern horizon and the rooks got going in the wood next door. In short, I kept forgetting to go to bed while the lamp was on and kept getting hopelessly, though enthusiastically engrossed (and knackered) by all the night-time lepidoptera on this plot.

 Brown Long-eared Bats' left-overs inside the barn  .... I'm not the only one catching moths here!

One of the downsides to the July heatwave and my on-going (day-time) surveys, wildlife treks, gardening work and vital family stuff elsewhere, is that I didn’t always leave enough time the next morning to give those poor old moths my undivided attention (for ID purposes). And so on more than one occasion, I released them all before I’d logged any mega rarities or added significantly to my 1KSQ total. Worse still, I was often way too dozy to have any hope in hell of writing up yet another blog so to get this far with my next 1KSQ contribution, I resolutely ignored the moth-trap on some of the warmest nights of the year and opted for some sleep instead!

But none of this properly explains the lack of smaller invertebrates in my total - I really ought to do a bit of beating and sweeping around the plot. But then I’d be back to square one and the mothy excuses I’ve just offered would apply equally to trying to identify a fridge full of obscure insects!

6th July - around the plot and square:
752 - Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris 

753 - Notch-horned Cleg-fly Haematopota pluvialis (above) ... tucking into my left arm ....


754 - Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum (left)
755 - Bramble Shoot Moth Epiblema uddmanniana (micro-moth)
756 - Grey Dagger Acronicta psi
757 - Barred Yellow Cidaria fulvata
758 - Green Silver-lines Pseudoips prasinana


759 - Small Elephant Hawk Deilephila porcellus (above) .... one of four in the trap along with fourteen Large Elephant Hawks ...

760 - Pine Hawk Hyloicus pinastri
761 - Beautiful Plume Amblyptilia acanthadactyla (micro-moth)
762 - Bird’s Wing Dypterygia scabriuscula
763 - Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata
764 - Hoverfly Cheilosia illustrata
765 - Barred Straw Eulithis pyraliata on the grass by the moth-trap
766 - Mugwort Artemisia vulgaris


767 - Opium Poppy Papaver somniferum (above ... two species?) on the edge of the arable field by the farm, SW corner of TQ6410, overlooking the Pevensey Levels and South Downs west of Eastbourne)
768 - Enchanter’s Nightshade Circaea lutetiana
769 - Water Plantain Alisma plantago-aquatica 

8th July - around the plot and square:
770 - Wild Radish Raphanus raphanistrum


771 - Twin-lobed Deer-fly Chrysops relictus (above) ... four on the barn's windbreak netting ...
772 - Fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus
773 - Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis

10th July around the square:
774 - Miller Acronicta leporina



775 - Four-lined Horsefly Atylotus rusticus (above) ... two on creeping thistle flowers near the farm and church and two on the windbreak netting in the barn
776 - Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella (micro-moth)
777 - Common Footman Eilema lurideola
778 - Wall Barley Hordeum murinum

13th July - around the plot and square:
779 - Little Emerald Jodis lactearia
780 - Common Centaury Centaurium erythraea
781 - Dot Moth Melanchra persicariae
782 - Bright-line Brown-eye Lacanobia oleracea
783 - Eucosma campolilana (micro-moth)
784 - Meadow Barley Hordeum brachyantherum

14th July (moth-trap) …. one of the mothiest night of the year .... but there were more to follow!
785 - Festoon Apoda limacodes
786 - Swallow-tailed Moth Ourapteryx sambucaria
787 - Blood-vein Timandra comae
788 - Rosy Footman Miltochrista miniata
789 - Bird-cherry Ermine Yponomeuta evonymella (micro-moth)
790 - July Highflyer Hydriomena furcata
791 - Mother of Pearl Pleuroptya ruralis (micro-moth)
792 - Garden Tiger Arctia caja
793 - Brown-tailed Moth Euproctis chrysorrhoea
794 - Leopard Moth Zeuzera pyrina
795 - Bee Moth Aphomia sociella
796 - Clay Triple-lines Cyclophora linearia

15th July - around the plot and square:

797 - Brown Hawker Aeshna grandis
798 - Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum
799 - Southern Hawker Aeshna cyanea



800 - White Admiral Limenitis camilla (above) Along the wet woodland edge by the Castle's bridleway pond. Not the greatest photo ever but a very welcome first for the square. Had no idea they even existed nearby .....

16th July - around the square, plot and moth-trap:
801 - Common Rustic Mesapamea secalis
802 - Gold Triangle Hypsopygia costalis (micro-moth)
803 - Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
804 - Fan-foot Zanclognatha tarsipennalis
805 - Yarrow Plume Platyptilia pallidactyla (micro-moth)
806 - Aleimma loeflingiana (micro moth)
807 - Common Wainscot Mythimna pallens
808 - Tutsan Hypericum androsaemum ... growing in a grassy bank near the Castle's Bader building
809 - Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola


17th Jul - around the plot:
810 - Leaf-cutter Bee Megachile willughbiella (above) in and out of a small plant-pot on the outdoor benching while I was watering the plants. The bee was less than impressed ….. but all safely back on the plant-bench now.

811 - Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus

18th July - moth trap:
812 - Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum
813 - Small Dotted Buff Photedes minima
814 - Common Emerald Hemithea aestivaria
815 - Endotricha flammealis (micro-moth)
816 - Carcina quercana (micro-moth)
817 - Clepsis consimilana (micro-moth)
818 - Garden Grass Veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella (micro-moth)

21st July - around the plot:
819 - Purple Hairstreak Neozephyrus quercus ... spiralled out of the rookery wood oaks and down to the smaller oak-trees re-generating widely around the upper plot the other evening (my third sighting here).

22nd July:
820 - Agapeta hamana (micro-moth) flew in with the mozzies through the open window the other evening.
821 - Agapeta zoegana (micro-moth) ditto …. and again on 2ndAug
822 - Oak Eggar Lasiocampa quercus …. a female found on the wind-break netting and somehow missed by the bats.

26th July - moth-trap:
823 - Black Arches Lymantria monacha
824 - Poplar Lutestring Tethea or
825 - Small Emerald Hemistola chrysoprasaria
826 - Lesser Common Rustic Mesapamea didyma
827 - Rustic Shoulder-knot Apamea sordens
828 - Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing Noctua janthe
829 - Dun-bar Cosmia trapezina
830 - Acleris forsskaleana (micro-moth)
831 - Dotted Oak Knot-horn Phycita roborella (micro-moth)
832 - Scalloped Oak Crocallis elinguaria

28th July - around the plot:
833 - Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia  ... spotted by elder daughter nectaring on bramble (the SWF, not my daughter) - a first ever for the plot (and square?) - while we were doing a trial run for the Big Butterfly Count.
834 - Yellow-tailed moth Euproctis similis
835 - Herald Scoliopteryx libatrix

1st Aug - around the plot:
836 - Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta



4th Aug - around the plot and moth-trap:
837 - Figwort Sawfly Tenthredo scrophulariae (above)


838 - Chalkhill Blue Polyommatus coridon (above) ... only the second sighting at the plot. Probably blown across the Pevensey Levels from the South Downs above Eastbourne or Polegate 7-8 miles away as the crow flies (weather conditions were exactly the same as per the previous sighting in 1996).

839 - Magpie Moth Abraxas grossulariata
840 - Marbled Green Cryphia muralis
841 - Large Emerald Geometra papilionaria


842 - Reed Dagger Simyra albovenosa (above) ..... well, I hope it is, anyway. Only the second record here at the plot.
843 - Meal Moth Pyralis farinalis (micro-moth)
844 - Smoky Wainscot Mythimna impura
845 - Yellow-spotted Lance-wing Phaulernis fulviguttella (micro-moth)

5th Aug - around the plot and square:
846 - Wall Brown Lasiommata megera ....  on the edge of the arable field by the farm
847 - Shaded Broad-bar Scotopteryx chenopodiata
848 - Wych Elm Ulmus glabra
849 - Black Nightshade Solanum nigrum
850 - Good King Henry Chenopodium bonus-henricus
851 - Black Bindweed Fallopia convolvulus (these last three near the farmyard/arable field edge)
852 - Broad-leaved Pondweed Potamogeton natans


853 - Ruddy Darter Sympetrum sanguineum .... same spot as the White Admiral

7th Aug - around the plot:
854 - Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata (micro-moth)

And happily plodding along on 854 species .....