More March Birding (feat. Moths)

This past week has been rather nice. On Tuesday, I didn't have in-person school (one advantage of the global pandemic I guess, if we look at it from a glass half full perspective), so of course I went birding. 

I went for a long walk at Fanshawe CA in the morning. Waterfowl numbers were way down, I doubt I even broke 100 individuals. I didn't get there until a bit later in the morning, so maybe earlier in the day would be better.

I came across a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the day use area. Perhaps it is an early migrant, or it could be the same bird I had in the campground, a kilometer away as the sapsucker flies, back in January. I'd like to think its a new arrival. If that's the case, I believe its close to record early, if not record early.

There was a Common Loon on the lake as well, which was reported the day prior. Quite distant, but I was pleased to see it. Additionally, I had my first of year Double-crested Cormorant. 

In the afternoon I went for a bike ride down to the Thames River. Nice enough day for it. I didn't really have much of a plan, but ultimately ended up checking up on a couple of our local celebrities. 

First up was the long-staying Harlequin Duck. His molt is coming along nice. He remained asleep on the opposite side of the river.

Next I went to go see the Spotted Towhee. It came out after about half an hour of waiting.

As I was waiting, I spied this interesting Dark-eyed Junco. 

I identified it as a cismontanus Dark-eyed Junco, also known as a Cassiar Junco. This is a different "subspecies" than our usual Slate-colored (hyemalis) Dark-eyed Juncos. Some authorities consider Cassiar to be an intergrade between Slate-colored and Oregon (oreganus group) juncos. I have been looking for one of these western juncos for quite awhile, so I was pleased to finally find one. 

Last night I decided to set up the moth sheet. It was about 12 degrees Celsius with no threat of rain, so why not? The Spring Peepers sang in the distance, and I heard a displaying woodcock twittering overhead a couple times. 

All I got for the longest time were midges and other small flies, but finally just as I went out to take down the sheet, a moth showed up! It was a Speckled Green Fruitworm Moth (Orthosia hibisci), my first lifer moth of the year. A Nameless Pinion Moth (Lithophane innominata) showed up right after, another lifer which happened to be my 550th moth for my yard list. 

Nameless Pinion Moth

I had been expecting maybe a Phigalia moth at best, so two noctuids were very exciting! I did end up getting a Small Phigalia (P. strigataria) as well. I had a couple of these last April.

I got out for a bit today as well. Nothing too much  to report other than my first of year Tree Swallows, as well as some Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara).

Bring on spring!

Yard Moths: 2020 Recap

This past late Spring and Summer was quite good for finding moths in my yard. The first time I set up my sheet was on April 5th, and the last time was on August 25th. I probably should have kept going throughout September, but due to a variety of reasons (early morning birding, school etc.), I ended up not doing so. From the end of May onwards, I was pretty good about setting up almost every single night if the conditions allowed. Not being in in-person school during the month of June really helped! In total, I ended up seeing 432 species of moths in my yard in 2020, and increased my all time list from about 350 species to 546 species. I usually saw at least one new yard moth every time I went out, and on some of my better nights, I would hit the double digits! The diversity on most nights was quite spectacular too. In late June and early July, I would often come very close or break 100 species for the night. It was certainly a really fun season! 

In total, I had 36 families of moths visit my yard during the few months of mothing I did. Quite respectable I would say, especially for your run of the mill suburban backyard with very few mature trees and mostly ornamental plants surrounding it. I will list each family represented, along with a species total, and will throw in a few pretty pictures along the way :-)

HEPIALIDAE 

Swift Moths - 1 species

Common Swift (Korscheltellus lupulina)

NEPTICULIDAE 

Pygmy Moths - 2 species

OPOSTEGIDAE 

White Eye-cap Moths - 1 species

Pseudopostega cretea

PRODOXIDAE 

Yucca moths -1 species

TINEIDAE 

Fungus and Clothes moths - 5 species

Pavlovski's Monopis (Monopis longella)

BUCCULATRICIDAE - 3 species

Crowned Bucculatrix (Bucculatrix coronatella)

GRACILLARIIDAE 

Leafblotch Miner Moths - 11 species

YPONOMEUTIDAE 

Ermine Moths - 2 species

YPSOLOPHIDAE 

Sickle-winged Moths - 1 species

PLUTELLIDAE 

Diamondback Moths - 1 species

GLYPHIPTERIGIDAE 

Sedge Moths - 1 species

ARGYRESTHIIDAE 

Shiny Head-standing Moths - 5 species

ATTEVIDAE - 1 species

AUTOSTICHIDAE - 2 species

OECOPHORIDAE - 2 species

Orange-headed Epicallima (Epicallima argenticictella)

DEPRESSARIIDAE 

Flat Moths - 4 species

COSMOPTERIGIDAE 

Cosmet Moths - 3 species

GELECHIIDAE 

Twirler Moths - 17 species

Dichomeris furia

ELACHISTIDAE 

Grass Moths - 2 species

COLEOPHORIDAE 

Casebearer Moths - 2 species

BATRACHEDRIDAE - 2 species

MOMPHIDAE - 3 species

Red-streaked Mompha (Mompha eloisella)

PTEROPHORIDAE 

Plume Moths - 5 species

Buck's Plume Moth (Geina buscki)

TORTRICIDAE 

Bell and Leafroller Moths - 80 species

Cochylis bucera

Dichrorampha leopardana

LIMACODIDAE 

Slug Moths - 3 species

Skiff Moth (Prolimacodes badia)

PYRALIDAE 

Pyralid Snout Moths - 28 species

CRAMBIDAE 

Snout and Grass Moths - 40 species

Basswood Leafroller (Pantographa limata)

DREPANIDAE 

Lutestring and Hooktip Moths - 3 species

Glorious Habrosyne (Habrosyne gloriosa)

LASIOCAMPIDAE 

Tent Caterpillar and Lappet Moths - 3 species

SPHINGIDAE 

Sphinx Moths - 4 species

Pandorus Sphinx (Eumorpha pandorus)

URANIIDAE - 1 species

Brown Scoopwing (Calledapteryx dryopterata)

GEOMETRIDAE 

Geometer Moths - 59 species

Sharp-lined Yellow (Sicya macularia)

NOTODONTIDAE 

Prominents - 10 species

Black-rimmed Prominent (Pheosia rimosa)

EREBIDAE 

Tiger, Tussock, and Underwing Moths - 47 species

Judith's Underwing (Catocala judith)

NOLIDAE 

Tuft Moths - 3 species

NOCTUIDAE 

Owlet Moths - 73 species

Hologram Moth (Diachrysia balluca)

If you would look to see all of my observations of my 2020 yard moths that I uploaded to iNaturalist, you can see them here. I also compiled from backyard moth photos in this post back in July (a few of which are featured here).

It is amazing what you can see if you put in the effort. When I first started mothing in 2018, I never imagined I would be able to see over 400 species of moths in my yard in only a few short months! 

It certainly was a very interesting year. I am already looking forward to being able to set up my sheet for the first time of the season!

Backyard Moth Mania

For the past couple of months, I have been "mothing", or looking at moths, in my yard. I have been at this since June 2018, but last July (which is peak time), I really slacked off. I think I was just exhausted after spending a hardcore weekend in Algonquin!

This year there hasn't been much going on (I'm sure its evident why!), so I have been able to set up my sheet and mercury vapour light almost every night, weather depending. I have been having an excellent season so far, with over 370 different species of moths recorded. Just a few nights ago, I actually surpassed 500 species for my all time yard list. At the beginning of the season, my yard list was somewhere around 360 species, so I'd say I've had some great luck.

Here are a few of my highlights!

Walnut Sphinx

Northern Pine Looper

Indented Dichomeris Moth

Peppered Moth

Yellow Slant-Line

Beggar Moth

Blinded Sphinx

Buck's Plume Moth

Yellow-winged Leafroller

Powder Moth

Rose Hooktip

Dimorphic Tosale Moth

Delicate Cycnia

Common Lytrosis

Virginia Creeper Sphinx

Spear-marked Black

Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth

Olive Angle Shades

Orange-headed Epicallima Moth

Sharp-lined Yellow

Yellow-headed Cutworm

Streaked Ethmia Moth

Red-lined Panopoda

Linden Bark Borer

Minor Grass-Veneer

Thin-lined Owlet

Linden Prominent

Juniper Geometer Moth

Basswood Leafroller

Mottled Prominent

Oblique Heterocampa Moth

Beautiful Wood-Nypmh

Skiff Moth

Cochylis bucera

Black-rimmed Prominent 

Glorious Habrosyne

Western Furcula

Hologram Moth

Eastern Black-headed Budworm Moth

Pandoras Sphinx

This week is National Moth Week, so get out and see some moths!

------

In other news, I thought I'd just tack on these ode pictures from North London this week. Spot-winged Glider is a lifer for me, Saffron-winged Meadowhawk is a first Middlesex county record, and Pronghorn Clubtail is always cool.

Spot-winged Glider

Saffron-winged Meadowhawk

Pronghorn Clubtail