On Skye I tried to put a moth trap out at least once a month to give a record of what was around throughout the year. There was a small dedicated community of those interested in moths and a committed vice county recorder keen to get records from what was an under-recorded area. and , useful when it came to identification and comparison. Weather often limited opportunity, rain and hot mercury vapour lamps do not get on well.
Down in Oxfordshire weather is less of a problem, but fear of upsetting neighbours is rate limiting. Nevertheless I am keen to get the trap out at least once a month, and last Saturday I caught 29 moths, representing 8 species
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| Black Rustic |
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| Beaded Chestnut |
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| Lunar Underwing |
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| Large Ranunculus |
An interesting moth was Blair's shoulder-knot. This is is recent immigrant to the UK, being first found by Dr Kenneth Blair in 1951 on the Isle of Wight, to where he had retired. At one time he was assistant curator at the Natural History Museum, and President of the Royal Entomological Society.
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| Blair's Shoulder-knot |
This moth is heading north and was recently recorded in Fife.
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