Tim Blackburn

Not too much excitement in the @rbgkew.bsky.social moth trap this afternoon, but there was at least one NFY for me in this rather late Southern Wainscot. #TeamMoth

And now Chinese EVs are cheaper in the showroom (and MUCH cheaper to drive) than combustion engines.

Nobody will want to buy combustion engines in 2030, but these knuckle draggers want to lead the EU industry towards total annihilation by sticking their head in the sand.

Bah.

Greater noctule bats prey on and consume passerines in flight Despite billions of passerines seasonally migrating during the night at high altitudes, only three bat species have been found to consistently tap into this rich prey resource. However, it remains unk...

As if them eating moths wasn't bad enough...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Bempton Cliffs apparently. Might turn north…

Ah. It's not getting any commoner it seems.

Sorry! (Not sorry 😈)

Good numbers, Liz. (At least no wasps here.)

Moth numbers down to just 11:8 in the Camden trap overnight, but one NFY with just my second ever Dusky-lemon Sallow. A scarce species locally it seems - the Herts & Middx website only has one record from 2024, the one I caught on 6th October. #TeamMoth

It was a total pain to subdue. It may find itself chopped now for my troubles!

Thoughts?!

Large Ranunculus?

Ah yes, thanks for reminding me. Especially as my chances of getting back into the lab this year are slim.

Thanks! There's certainly no shortage of Plane trees near me. Also I suspect Uncertain just from previous relative numbers, but it's in the fridge...

A few moths flying in London overnight, with 17:11 in the Camden trap this morning. Acleris sparsana was NFY, and the 700th species I've photographed this year (699 adults, 1 caterpillar). Also late Uncertain/Rustic and Phyllonorycter platani (opinions welcome on both). #TeamMoth

Got to save some good material for the next book.

👏

Lovely - and a different bird to the one we had on the Point a few days ago.

A male Oegoconia quadripuncta moth, according to its genitals.

My best guess at this tatty moth was a Pale Mottled Willow, but the highly distinctive genitalia nailed it as male Clancy's Rustic.

A sandy-coloured female Flounced Rustic moth. I did think a late Tawny Shears could be in the running, but Flounced it is.

A few more lab idents from today. The Oegoconia is a male quadripuncta, and becomes my 700th moth species this year. The very worn Noctuid is a male Clancy's, and the sandy one a Flounced Rustic, as ObsId, @photography-aj.bsky.social and @sj84turner.bsky.social all got right. #TeamMoth

Male genitalia of P. blancardella - to quote Chris Lewis's British Lepidoptera site, "has a narrow R costa with a long apical spine (spine 2/5 length of costa - upper oval) and a very short L costa with a long spine (spine 2x length of costa - lower oval)."

A day in the moth lab, and the results are in. This Phyllonorycter from my friend's Highgate garden in September appears to be male blancardella, as I suspected given all her apple trees. A lifer, if no one dissents... #TeamMoth

Looks good to me - that silvery dot in the corner of the kidney (here's the one I caught in Camden in 2023).

That looks amazing.

I hadn’t thought that optimistically!

I think that's one of the candidates.

One more for #TeamMoth from Blakeney Point on 26th September. What do you think? (It's been retained for a (hopefully) definitive answer...)

YouTube video by owen reiser LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching

A few weeks after everyone started sending me the link to Listers and telling me I had to watch it RIGHT NOW, I have at last got round to watching it, and quietly suggest you do too (whether birds are your thing or not). youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo

Flouncing off.

That’s a real work of art Andy!

Good question, something I’ll look at when I’ve had a shower and a rest… (There will be issues of different types and numbers of traps of course.)

Last night of trapping on Blakeney Point for a while. A rather tatty Archer’s Dart was NFY, and Pale Pinion new for the week. Ended on 2,346:57 from 7 nights, though more than 1,800 were Large Yellow Underwings. #TeamMoth

Happy biodiversity scientists (and Cliff). #TeamMoth