Bat and Moth Night at Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth - September 7th

The weather has been very settled with warm and sunny days and cool nights and after work on the 7th September I headed off to Ford Park Cemetery in Plymouth for a bat and moth night. The cemetery is about a 20 minute walk from where I live and on arrival there was a large group of people already assembled at the visitors centre including a few familiar faces from the Plymouth RSPB Group.

We headed off with members of the Devon Bat Group who checked out the bat boxes in the hope of finding some bats but they were unfortunately all empty. However we did see some pipistrelle bats feeding over the tree tops while we listened to them calling on a bat detector which was quite strange to hear.

Tawny owls were heard calling and a large roost of jackdaws was very noisey in the trees. Also seen was a young hedgehog, my first sighting of one for a few years now.

3 MV bulb moth traps were running and a few nice moths were seen despite the clear sky and cool temperature - 2 orange swift with 1 of them oddly being twice the size of the other, a green carpet, 2 ruby tiger, an August thorn and a silver Y amongst lots of square spot rustics and large yellow underwings and other assorted common moths.

Orange Swift

While at work on the 4th September I found an August Thorn flitting about the corridor so I caught it in a pot and brought it home to photograph before releasing it in the back yard - a new moth for me but one I can't really count for my back yard list!

August Thorn

 



Mothing in the back yard has continued to be productive with the settled and warm weather although it has been quite cool overnight.

I have had 2 new moths for the back-yard - a Green Carpet and a Cypress Pug, with the latter being a new moth for me as well.

 Green Carpet

 

Cypress Pug

 



Other moth highlights have been an L-Album Wainscot (one of my favourites), a tatty Jersey Tiger Moth, a tatty female Four Spotted Footman, a Silver Y, a Large Ranunculus (another of my favourites) and an Old Lady.

L-Album Wainscot

 

Large Ranunculus

 



Micro moths have included a White Shouldered House Moth and a Chrysoclista linneella, a very pretty but strange looking moth that would not stay still for a second resulting in some not very good photos.

 White Shouldered House Moth

 

 Chrysoclista linneella

 

Chrysoclista linneella