Sparks of light on Guy Fawkes night at Llanelli...

 Some may recall my protracted and highly frustrating wait to catch a Clifden nonpareil a few years back, in spite of several other moth trappers having success locally. The same applied to Radford`s flame shoulder, of which a lot have been caught in southern Britain in recent months including here in Carmarthenshire, where Arfon Williams in particular has been spectacularly successful with his north Carmarthenshire catches, including the afore-mentioned Radford`s flame shoulders.

Whatever, I was lucky last night (5th November), with a slightly worn, but instantly recognisable, one awaiting me this morning in my actinic trap. There were other migrants also present.

Arfon tells me that last night, in or near his trap near Ffarmers, he also (ie as well as some more regular migrants) had another Spoladea recurvalis and Diasemiopsis ramburialis, the latter being found hidden in a nook within the porch where the trap had been placed.

                                                Above: the Llanelli Radford`s flame shoulder.

                                                               Above: Palpita vitrealis

                                         Above: four migrant species with two seasonal residents.

More migrants (4th November)

 Some more migrants last night, this time at Llanelli. Highlights were 2 x scarce bordered straws and a single delicate; also 2 x dark sword-grasses and several silver ys.

                                        Above: the two scarce bordered straws and the delicate.

The catch of the year?

 Arfon Williams made an extraordinary catch on Monday, 28.10.24 with multiples of various rare migrant moths on a night when he `did n`t expect much`!

He caught 9 Palpita vitrealis, 3 Radford`s flame shoulders, 2 scarce bordered straws, 1 delicate, 3 Spoladea recurvalis and 10 rusty dot pearls! An amazing catch. All caught in actinic traps, rather than the MV trap in his garden north of Ffarmers in N. Carmarthenshire.

                                               Above: a general shot of some of his catch.

                                                 Above: Radford`s flame shoulders

                                                      Above: his haul of Palpita...

                                                            Above: Spoladea recurvalis

(I too trapped that night - and had only six moths in my trap, though at least they were of six different (common) species!).

Things are looking up….a bit….

 I’ve had a few Rusty-dot Pearls over the past week, plus two separate Scarce Bordered Straws, and this morning found this nice White Point in the trap. A first for me. Thanks Ian for confirming.

Some more migrants...

 Southerly winds bode well for migrants on Weds 23rd and Thurs 24th nights, this time in Llanelli. The 23rd yielded a scarce bordered straw, but the next night was more productive with a delicate, Palpita vitrealis, a diamond-back and multiple silver y`s. Less welcome were two box moths, one dark phase, the other the more usual white form.

                                               Above: Palpita vitrealis and below, the delicate.

Arfon Williams reports a recent capture of a Clifden nonpareil at his north Carmarthenshire home trap site. As mentioned previously, this magnificent moth is likely to be resident in Arfon`s home patch, given the number of records made by him.

Persistence, providence and a porch...

 Arfon Williams seems to be a clear Carmarthenshire champion this autumn, a reflection of his enthusiasm and dedication. The maxim `if you don`t try, you don`t get` is true though, on the relatively few occasions that I`ve trapped this year, I personally had minimum luck! 

Arfon has the presumed advantage too that he - as with Stephen Rundle in the hill country near Llandovery - has a good mothing site with, possibly, passing moths being funnelled along the valley where their home traps are situated. Similarly, Arfon does not have the competition with numerous urban lights that, for example, must diminish the attraction of my Llanelli trap. Also with a trap it also helps to have a good position within the trap site, one that is visible from several angles and, lastly, especially in this horribly wet year, a form of shelter helps - hence the word `porch` in the title, to avoid wet or de-scaled moths.

Anyway, on 17th October, AW had his highest number of scare bordered straws (x 6, pic below), along with one Palpita vitrealis and a rusty-dot pearl. Full marks again!

Furthermore, he does it AGAIN!

 `Magic Mothboy in the hills` (aka Arfon Williams) scored another new county record on 6th October (Sunday), catching a Radford`s flame shoulder, as well as some other migrants. 

The Radford`s is seen at the bottom right and it is a species that I`ve  been after recently, obviously without success. The other moths shown are (clockwise) Palpita vitrealis, rusty-dot pearl, and scarce bordered straw. Well done, once more, Arfon!

I had a scarce bordered straw on Friday 4th October but, apart from that, nothing of note. Also two (unwanted) sightings of more box-tree moths including one to kitchen light last night (both moths are shown below).