The moth was, not unexpectedly, a winter moth to the actinic 15W trap set on a footpath on Ash Valley Golf Course, 1 of 33 attracted to the light along with a solitary mottled umber. Previous to this I had spent time with a headtorch and net visiting several of the sites I regularly trap in the parish, taking:
6 winter moth at Hadham Hall
2 winter moth at Suffyldes Wood
5 Satellite, 2 dark chestnut and a mottled umber at Hoecroft Lane
7 winter moth to headtorch as I set the trap on the golf course.
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| Dark chestnut |
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| December moth |
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| Mottled umber, 255th macro species for 2016 |
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| Satellite |
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| Mottled umber and 2 dark chestnuts |
Just to finish off a good night I had the 1st garden moths since 15th November, with a winter moth attracted to our porch light and a December moth in the trap this morning.
Over the year, with the addition of the Heath trap that I bought in March, I have trapped at 14 away sites in the parish as well as the garden. I have missed 14 nights in the garden and been hunting moths around the parish on 195 separate occasions.
Next year I plan to be more a species hunter, going for less common moths by setting the trap at the right time of the year next to specific larval plant foods. One of the first species targeted will be Sloe Carpet, which usually flies when the blossom is on blackthorn, but the trap will need to be set right inside a flowering clump of this plant to stand any chance of capture. This moth is yet to be found in Hertfordshire, so a bit of a long shot! Should also find reasonable numbers of water carpet at the same time. Another plant I shall target is gorse, which grows successfully on Ash Valley Golf Course and to run the trap here, I shall require permission. So far, all my trapping on the golf course has been on public footpaths that cross the course at several places. The other target is to pass 700 species for the parish
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