Feathered Ranunculus

We headed down to Cornwall for a week on 18th October but had been unable to stay at our usual cottage in Porthgwarra as others had booked it.  We ended up at Trevilley Farmhouse, in Trevilley, just south of Lands End.  We arrived as it was pretty much dark and my first job was to work out where to put the moth trap.  There wasn't a lot of choice really - the garden was small and enclosed but with one small sycamore and some other bushes inside.  In front of the house was open fields, behind it was a farm building and to the side were a few small trees.  Not ideal for mothing as it turned out, but with the trap on the grass in the middle of the garden I hoped it would draw in a few moths from the few neighbouring trees and other vegetation, and perhaps even a few migrants.

Well, no migrants on the first night, but some moths I don't see at home: 8 Feathered Ranunculus and an Autumnal Rustic (both species I usually record at Porthgwarra though).

Feathered Ranunculus, Trevilley, 18th October

Autumnal Rustic, Trevilley, 18th October

In some ways the most interesting record was 11 Red-line Quakers.  Most - all I think - were very different from any Red-line Quaker I've seen at home, dark and reddish.  It seems that they belong to the form rufa, apparently commonest in the north and west.

Red-line Quaker (f. rufa), Trevilley, 18th October

Other moths in the trap that night were Little Dwarf Elachista canapennella, 4 Light Brown Apple Moths Epiphyas postvittana, 3 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, 2 Common Marbled Carpets, Brimstone Moth, Yellow-tail, 2 Large Yellow Underwings, Small Square-spot, 3 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 4 Square-spot Rustics, Black Rustic, Green-brindled Crescent, 7 Beaded Chestnuts, 39 Lunar Underwings, Large Wainscot and Snout.

Unbeknown to me the couple staying at the cottage we normally hire were also birders and moth-ers and they managed much better... a Radford's Flame Shoulder!  Precisely what I was hoping for.  Ah well.

The following night my quest for migrants was, well, not exactly satisfied, but there was a single Dark Sword-grass.

Dark Sword-grass, Trevilley, 19th October

Otherwise it was mostly the same sort of stuff as the night before: White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella, Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana, 4 Narrow-winged Greys Eudonia angustea, 3 Large Yellow Underwings, Autumnal Rustic, 6 Setaceous Hebrew Characters, 2 Green-brindled Crescents, 11 Feathered Ranunculus, 8 Red-line Quakers, 10 Beaded Chestnuts, 43 Lunar Underwings, Angle Shades and Burnished Brass.

Feathered Ranunculus, Trevilley, 19th October

Angle Shades, Trevilley, 19th October