A very quiet February with
only 27 moths of 6 species, The Chestnut, Conistra vaccinii, Early Moth,
Theria primaria, Pale Brindled Beauty, Apocheima pilosaria. Hebrew
Character, Orthosia gothica, Common Quaker, Orthosia cerasi and
March Moth, Alsophila aescularia.
On 18 of the 28 nights I didn’t record
a single moth. I think that the less said about February the better.
March was
a much better month with 529 moths of 28 species. It was, in fact, the best
March since 1999. An Oak Beauty, Biston strataria, on the 11th was right
on time. Other punctual arrivals included: Shoulder Stripe, Anticlea badiata,
Engrailed, Ectropis bistortata, and Early Thorn, Selenia dentaria. The
remainder consisted of the usual Orthosia sp. and other early spring
moths.
April saw an early Muslin Moth, Diaphora mendica, on the 12th,
and a Chocolatetip, Clostera curtula, on the 14th - the earliest date I
have recorded this moth.
Another comparatively early moth was the Mullein, Shargacucullia verbasci, on the 18th - also the earliest date that I have recorded this moth. Yet another early arrival was the Nut-tree Tussock, Colocasia coryli:
the specimen on the 21st April was another earliest record. I was surprised on
the 25th of the month with a solitary Bright-line Brown-eye, Lacanobia oleracea,
this is the first April record I have for this common moth. Early arrivals
continued on the 27th with a Pebble Prominent, Notodonta ziczac, another
first April record.
April 2003 proved to be the best April since I started
recording, with 558 moths of 38 species. The next best April was 1997, with 548
moths of 35 species.
A Sallow Kitten, Furcula furcula, on 4th May was my
earliest record for this moth, the previous record being 5th June. Another very
early moth was an Orange Footman, Eilema sororcula, recorded on 7th May,
almost a month before its time. This continues the spread of what is a very
local moth in East Anglia. The appearance of a Chinese Character, Cilix glaucata,
on 10th May was very welcome. This moth seems to have declined somewhat
over the recent years. Another welcome visitor was Small Clouded Brindle, Apamea
unanimis, on 26th May; this was the first record for this local moth, at Sicklesmere,
since 19th June 1999. I have so far recorded a total of four this year. Another
early arrival was a Snout, Hypena proboscidalis, on 27th May, my first May
record for this very common moth. Perhaps the most surprising of the early arrivals
was Small Rivulet, Perizoma alchemillata, on 29th, another common moth, with
the earliest previous date of 1st July.
After recording several moths at much earlier
dates than usual, one turned up later than normal. I thought that I was going to
miss out on Least Black Arches, Nola confusalis, but my mind was put to
rest with a singleton on 27th May. After a slow start to May with only 257
moths recorded up to 25th May, a further 213 moths arrived by the end of the
month.
You may have noticed that this report is somewhat shorter than usual. I
have been spending a lot of my time, sometimes I think too much, involved with
a Stone Curlew Study Group in the northwest of the county. This has reduced the
amount of time for recording and compiling reports such as this. I have no
doubt that, at this time of the year, most of you have the same problem.
Stan
Dumican
Anglezarke, Sicklesmere, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP30
0TJ
© 2003 Suffolk Naturalists' Society