The weather omens for Friday night (17/10) were favourable and out went my actinic (on its roof-top perch) and the MV (on the ground at the far end of the garden). The traps were checked just before first-light, though inspection the previous evening had shown that there was an ingress of moths and that it would be a worthwhile trap. Some 32 species or so (still one or two to check) were counted the next morning. Of particular note was the very large numbers of white-points and merveille du jour (11 and 10 respectively), most of whom were in the actinic, especially regarding the white-points.
I had to take `bulk photos` of these last-named species, utilising a lightweight wooden board placed on the lawn adjacent to thick herbaceous plantings, so that the moths could be placed somewhere safe after photography. The moths were cooled down in their individual plastic containers for about 3 hrs beforehand and then very gently placed on the board with the containers still above them (the lids, of course, were taken off beforehand). They were positioned close to each other to facilitate a group photo. My camera was ready and the containers were quickly - but carefully and gently - taken off. The white-points were done first, then the `mervs`. One of the white-points immediately flew off (it had been whirring its wings to warm up) and another ran off. I re-caught the latter, but it was so restless it might have ran into and dispersed my assembled group, so it was ignored. I took a good half dozen photos of the group. A similar procedure was carried out with the `mervs`, where only one escaped (another of the total was not included as it had been seriously injured - by a robin? - and was missing its abdomen).
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