Ivy - season two starts here

It was a splendid autumn afternoon down this way - warm, with mellowing tones. As dusk fell, there was not a breath of wind and the afternoon warmth lingered through. That could only mean one thing - checking ivy for moths.

As I hoped, much of the ivy down Alton Hall Lane which receives a good soaking of afternoon sun was in flower and in no time, beady pairs of orange eyes became apparent. The 'textbook' suggests that when checking ivy, it is best to use coloured light as moths will drop off in an attempt at self-preservation. In my experience, a good white light is absolutely fine. A head torch is very useful as it allows you to work with a net or pot . Moths are so intent on nectaring that you could almost pick them off with your fingers. Please don't though. Position a pot or net below in case the insect does decide to drop and just tap.

In just one hour along a 20 metre stretch, we recorded 14 species. Square-spot Rustic was the most abundant with over 20 individuals. New moths to the Stutton ivy list (standing at 25 from 2012) were Brimstone, Light Emerald, Double-striped Pug, Vine's Rustic, Emmelina monodactyla, Common Wainscot, Snout and a micro that is currently residing in the fridge.

Final scores were:

Large Yellow Underwing - 6

Lesser Yellow Underwing - 4

Square-spot Rustic - 20+

Vine's Rustic - 2

Light Emerald - 1

Brimstone - 1

Snout - 2

Emmelina monodactyla - 3

Angle Shades - 3

Common Wainscot - 1

Setaceous Hebrew Character - 1

White-point - 2

that micro - 2

A promising start to the ivy season then, which should run through to the back end of October. All things permitting, I hope to get somewhere between 30-40 species.  I don't expect to find anything earth-shatteringly rare, but that isn't the point. I am mad on wildlife, so it provides me with a fix, but more importantly it highlights how valuable this much maligned plant is as a nectar source for invertebrates as winters draws near.