Diamonds And Natural Stone: Cuckoo's Hollow

Tonight was a planned moth night at the Cuckoo's Hollow area of Werrington. Previous sessions have been very successful (see blogs passim) but with a strong northeasterly wind blowing and a low nighttime temperature forecast I was worried we would have nothing to see at all. I needn't have worried.

There was a huge turnout of local wildlife fans, including eight children and we made an early start in the daylight by beating some of the trees and bushes. The most productive area was a patch of Hawthorn that had been in the late afternoon sun and out of the wind. Three Hawthorn Shieldbugs, an Epistrophe elegans (hoverfly) and the only dayflying moth, Incurvaria masculella were the result as well as a number of other insects (mainly weevils) and spiders.

The lights went on at dusk and a steady stream of moths were enough to keep up your interest until we packed up at around 11pm.

0017 Common Swift (Hepialus lupulinus), 1
0130 Incurvaria masculella, 1
1776 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria), 1
1906 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata), 2
2007 Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula), 1
2011 Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina), 1
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta), 3
2102 Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta), 1
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica), 1
2334 Rustic Shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens), 1

Two other insects came to light during the evening: a Dark Bush-cricket nymph and the Soldier Beetle Cantharis rustica.

A nocturnal gathering