As the night was quite warm, cloudy and with only a light wind, I put out two garden traps on Tuesday night (22/9), hoping for something interesting, whether in terms of migrant moths or wandering individuals from more local habitats. I was up in the dark at 4.00am, as rain was forecast for c.5.00am-7.00am (it duly arrived) to check the moths and to put the traps away in the dry, even though both had rain-proof covers. The results were disappointing with a low mix of resident moths with some common migrants included, though a Palpita vitrealis was among the latter. The previous night - Monday - had a particularly attractive vestal though, again, within an indifferent catch.
The traps were put away and I went back to bed for an hour or so after a disappointing catch . Later that morning I had to do some food shopping (with some quick visits to nearby `brownfield` sites), so I also took my field bag with its containers and camera etc. As I opened the car boot, I immediately noticed a moth that had been resting under the rim of the `hatchback` and it was a moth that was recognisable - a Clancy`s rustic! Rather than risking trying to take a photo and possibly sending it off into flight (`don`t be chancy with my Clancy`, I thought), it was immediately potted up with no difficulty. I suspect that it had been attracted by the street lamp next to my car before sheltering by my car boot. Had I not decided to go shopping, it might well have stayed there, undiscovered, before flying off the next evening. Such are the vagaries of moth recording. My car boot had indeed been more productive than the bulbs of my actinic and MV lights! As it happens, I had the 1st vcr of this moth, back on 5th October 2023 (then a 2nd Welsh record, being just beaten by a record from the Cardiff area). A bit of `jammy` good luck.
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