Hemel Hempstead Field Trip - 11/06/13David Kirk, Roger Prue and myself made a trip to two of the Boxmoor sites in Hemel Hempstead. The evening looked absolutely perfect for moths with cloud cover expected throughout the night and a minimum of 13 degrees, though when I arrived at the first site at Gadesprings the cloud had promptly vanished. We set two traps up at Gadesprings and left them to their own devices, then we made our way to Bovingdon Brickworks where we would setup 2 more traps running from a generator. As we started to setup, more cloud had developed and the wind had dropped so we were confident of getting a few moths.The moths were as always few and far between at the light first, but then as the night went on, at about 10.30pm we were seeing much more variety in singles, with just a few moths having an influx, notably Green Carpet, Silver-ground Carpet and the micro Monopis weaverella.We packed up at about 1.30am at Bovingdon, and it took awhile to count everything....species were still flying in and god only knows how many we would have recorded had we stayed until first light.Of the two sites, Bovingdon did the best, but what we didn't expect was to find a further 24 species at Gadesprings that did not feature in the Bovingdon catch.Strangely and in keeping with this odd year, one of the commonest moths was Nut-tree Tussock, in which we recorded 4 to the 80w Actinic and 1 to the 125w MV. This is a very late record, considering a few of them were fresh.We did not get Poplar Hawk-moth, which was pretty much expected from Gadesprings.Notables of the night were moths new to myself, Mompha raschkiella, Strophedra weirana and Elachista atricomella, May Highflyer was also a seldom seen moth.All in all we had an incredibly enjoyable night and would like more of these please Mr weather!Of all the moths identified, there is only one we are struggling with, which will have to be omitted as it is too worn and dead apparently!The jet black Prays fraxinella/ruficeps will have to be checked by Colin Plant, I did confidently predict one of these, judging by the amount of Ash in the vicinity. 84 species total60 species at Bovindon52 species at Gadespringsan extra 25 species at Gadesprings[] = Only at Gadesprings11/06/13Bovingdon Brickworks - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap & 1x 80w Actinic Trap run from 9.45pm until 1.30amMacro Moths1x Red Twin-spot Carpet1x Spruce Carpet1x Brown Rustic1x Rustic Shoulder-knot1x White Ermine2x Common Wave1x Nutmeg1x Peach Blossom3x Heart & Dart1x V-pug2x Peppered Moth1x Brown Silver-line2x Purple Bar1x Mottled Rustic5x Scalloped Hazel1x Elephant Hawk-moth1x Clouded-bordered Brindle5x Orange Footman5x Small Phoenix2x White Pinion-spotted4x Treble Lines2x Pale Tussock3x Clouded Silver2x Grey Pine Carpet5x Nut-tree Tussock4x Flame Shoulder6x Grey Pug4x Mottled Pug1x Oak Hook-tip1x Straw Dot2x Common Marbled Carpet1x Least Black Arches1x Pale Prominent3x Common White Wave1x Angle Shades5x Brimstone Moth10x Silver-ground Carpet15x Green Carpet3x Common Swift2x Common Carpet Micro Moths1x Parornix sp1x Strophedra weirana [NEW!]1x Prays fraxinella/ruficeps1x Caloptilia sp3x Mompha raschkiella [NEW!]1x Epiblema cynosbatella2x Cochylis atricapitana2x Syndemis musculana2x Celypha lacunana2x Pseudargyrotoza conwagana1x Nematopogon swammerdamella2x Agonopterix arenella1x Argyresthia trifasciata3x Metzneria metzneriella1x Scoparia ambigualis2x Crambus lathoniellus8x Monopis weaverella1x Agapeta hamana1x Nemapogon cloacella1x Cochylimorpha straminea11/06/13Gadesprings, Hemel Hempstead - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap & 1x 160w MBT Trap run from 9.30pm until 2.00amMacro Moths2x Silver-ground Carpet1x Common Carpet1x Common Wainscot []1x Angle Shades2x Heart & Dart1x May Highflyer []1x Silver Y []3x Buff-tip []1x Campion []1x Nutmeg2x Brimstone Moth5x Green Carpet2x White Ermine2x Common Rustic []1x Peppered Moth2x Cinnabar []3x Iron Prominent []1x Bright-line Brown-eye []2x Flame Shoulder2x Rustic Shoulder-knot1x Small Square-spot []1x Common Wave3x Treble Lines1x Clouded-bordered Brindle1x Pale Prominent1x Shuttle-shaped Dart []1x Swallow Prominent []1x Broken-barred Carpet []2x Common Pug1x Yellow-barred Brindle []2x Scalloped Hazel1x Pale Tussock1x Clouded Silver2x Grey Pug1x Vine's Rustic []2x Spectacle []2x Common Swift2x Marbled Minor1x Garden Carpet []1x Common White Wave3x Brimstone Moth1x Oak-tree Pug []1x Small Clouded Brindle []Micro Moths1x Mompha epilobiella []1x Pseudargyrotoza conwagana1x Bactra lancealana []1x Nematopogon swammerdamella1x Celypha lacunana2x Elachista maculicerusella []1x Elachista argentella []1x Elachista atricomella []1x Bactra lancealana []
