The Safari took the UV lamp on our break to north Wales but we couldn't take the full trap, there's no way it would fit in the fully laden car. But there's always somewhere to hang it and our cottage this time round was furnished with whitewashed walls - just the ticket. The easiest window was beside a downspout behind which we wedged a few egg boxes as a makeshift trap - all very ramshackle and Heath Robinson but it worked. The blustery wind didn't help much but there was some vegetation about so we were hopeful of getting something attracted to the light.
 |
| Lychnis |
 |
| Spruce Carpet - new for the Safari |
 |
| 20 Plume Moth |
 |
| Canary Shouldered Thorn |
 |
| Dusky Thorn |
 |
| Eudonia angustea |
 |
| Flame Carpet |
 |
| Square Spot Rustic |
 |
| Unknown - Help!!! |
In the moth 'trap' but not a moth was this bronzy-golden Caddis Fly, one for those clever iSpotters we think, although we don't get a lot of joy there doesn't seem to many Caddis experts on there or at least only infrequently.
Several of these little blighters were found in one of the pots we'd taken from Base Camp, hatched from eggs laid by...we can't remember. It's less than a millimeter long!
Lurking a bit too close to the makeshift trap was another tiddler, this one a bit more ominous than the caterpillars
Identified on Facebook's British Spiders group with kind assistance from @HesitantWeasel as a male Pachygnatha degeeri, whose claim to fame is that it is illustrated on the cover of the spiders field guide. And that was written by a lad who used to live in our street when we were kids whose family had a holiday caravan in Trearddur Bay, guess where...OK you got it - Anglesey. So it's probably not him, just someone with the same name but an unlikely set of coincidences all the same.
We'd come off the beach with Wifey and Frank and were sat on a rough-hewn bench overlooking the bay enjoying a coffee from the beach shack when Wifey noticed something crawling in the grass close to Frank's nose. A quality 'trundle-bug'!
More news from the lovely isle of Ynys Mon tomorrow as there's unlikely to be any news from round here. Today a short lunchtime Patch 2 watch only gave us about 50 Common Scoters, a very distant haze-ridden Gannet and a speeding unidentified auk.
Where to next? Might get another titchy Patch 2 lunchtime watch...there again we might not!
In the meantime let us know who's trundling doggedly through the undergrowth in your outback.
2 comments:
What a brilliant selection. Lots that I have never seen before.
That beetle is a beauty Dave, looks huge! Loving the Thorn moths too, I've never photo'd one of those.
Post a Comment