"I`ve seen the light!"

Not a repetition of the great religious revival that swept through Wales in the early years of the twentieth century, but rather the comments of a very early dog walker who stumbled across one of my traps early yesterday morning. A pleasant chat ensued when I explained what I was doing.
The previous night (23/5), I had put out three `away-from-home` traps, as well as the one at home. Good and varied numbers were caught in all traps, with some grass pyralids and others still to be looked at (I was too tired yesterday). There were many FFYs, including fox, flame, eyed hawk-moth, elephant hawk-moth, light emerald, marbled white-spot, green carpet, Vine`s rustic and rivulet.
Two traps were positioned E of Burry Port, one under an aspen thicket amongst varied amenity plantings. The latter had a seraphim (my third in recent weeks), a May highflyer and yellow-barred brindle. There were lots of common swifts present, probably emanating from adjacent rough grassland habitats. The other Burry Port trap also had a similar number of common swifts (14), including a plump female - all the rest were males.

Above: common swifts, female in foreground, male at rear (with irritating small stone chipping!)

Above: a slightly blurry photo, taken by a bleary photographer, of a male fox moth resting outside the trap.

Above: sharp-angled peacocks were out in some numbers at the `E of Burry Port` traps.

I also put an actinic at the edge of mixed woodland at Cilymaenllwyd, Pwll where a white-spotted pug was of interest. The best wildlife sighting here though, as I placed the traps out at c 9.30pm, was a badger ambling towards me along the footpath, still in daylight and affording good, close views.

Above: white-spotted pug - I`m afraid it flew off when I tried to photograph it outside the tube! It is said to be a species of damp habitats, with the first brood feeding on elder flowers and the second on various umbellifer flowers and seeds (and some other plants). The row of white spots `caught my eye`.

Nothing of particular interest was caught at the `home trap`.

Please keep up the trapping effort - did anyone else do any trapping on Friday night, to augment Isabel`s good work at Cilycwm? I may just do a short `stay with trap` session tonight. I want to keep myself awake for some `marsh fritillary potential sites` visits this week. Monday afternoon looks nice and sunny...