Finally some moths.....

 We've finally trapped our first moths of the season. We trap more or less every night on the island with a large trap attached to mains in the garden or a small battery trap which could be set up anywhere.

April is generally a quiet moth for moths but this year has been exceptionally quiet due to the cold wild winds that have been hitting the island.

 The trap is set up outside the cottage in a building that looks suspiciously like a toilet but when no rain is guaranteed we will set up the trap outside. We are using this reel to sit it on. This was left on the island by the contractors who fitted the new solar panels. This is a perfect for placing the trap in a prominent position.

 

This Hebrew Character is the first moth to be extracted this season. It is a common moth that is often the first to bee seen out here. It has a distinctive dark mark on the wing from where it gets its name.

The second moth of the season was this one which is simply called Satellite. The reason it gets this name is because the white spot has two smaller spots surrounding it. This moth was the first one I'd recorded out here but there have been a few other records over the years.

I must apologise for the poor quality of the image. This moth was not actually in the egg boxes in the trap, it was in the middle of the reel. Later on in the day I had to adapt the reel with the jigsaw so I can now extract moths more easily.

Not all moths are caught in the trap. Many are found in the cracks in the buildings or perched on the walls around the trap. We'll post any interesting sightings during the season.