Small Phoenix - Castle Brae

The office wall species grows by one more. Another nice looking micro escaped while trying to capture it, sadly.

Yellow-ringed Carpet, Mull

While creeping down a gulley to look at bryophytes on a rock seepage (very glamorous), I disturbed a moth from the gulley wall. As luck would have it I had a bag with a moth net and a sweep net in it and was able to catch said moth for a closer look. Turns out it was a Yellow-ringed Carpet - a pretty scarce moth which is an upland and western (mostly) species with very few records post-2000. I always enjoy putting a dot on a map but some dots are more enjoyable than others

Peppered Moth, Dunfermline

The 16th species I have found on my office wall. Usually they re above the uplighters that shine on the wall but this one was in a random spot, maybe pulled there by the small garden. Who knows. Lovely moths, anyway

Twenty-plume and White-spot, 24-04-2016

A surprise Twenty-plume Moth emerged from under a wheelie bin in my garden yesterday - a nice surprise. I guess somebody has some honeysuckle in their garden nearby

Earlier in the day this Eriocrania unimaculella was knocked out of a conifer at Mossmorran. Interestingly this is exactly the prescribed method of finding the species and the exact right timing as described in the Micros book.

Cullaloe LNR, 19/04/2016 - Water Carpet and a false start

After watching the temperature dial drop as the moon shone in a clear sky disaster struck as it turned out the generator had stopped (lack of petrol) and the light gone out. Not much of a haul

Water Carpet - 1 (!) Chocolate Form
Micro - unnamed - 1

Chocolate Form

Cullaloe LNR, 22/03/2016

An overnight heath trap in the birches and a brief head torch session at the one Salix with workable catkins produces two new species for the reserve and a Lepidoptera total now finally at 200! the Yellow Horned was also new for NT18, just sneaking in time for the atlas at its last chance

Yellow Horned - 1
Chestnut - 1
Common Quaker - 1

Mottled Grey - 2 (on Salix)
Mystery species (but not new, I think...)

Agonopterix ocellana - 1

Chestnut

Common Quaker

Mottled Grey

Yellow Horned

Agonopterix ocellana

and the one I can't put a name to yet...

I know those spots mean something...

2016 - kickoff

So a round of individual moths started the season off in fine style

Herald from Dumbarnie Links

Dotted Border from Hill of Beath

Pale Brindled Beauty, also from Hill of Beath