A rainy night

In spite of the rain I did get the first moth of the year in my bait trap.  The light trap was empty.  I’m pretty sure this is a Three-Spotted Sallow (Eupsilia tristigmata).  I’ve only recorded this moth once before on the 1st Oct 2011.  It was a little bedraggled…

At last some more moths…

Two species in the light trap last night, Gooseberry Stretchia (Stretchia muricina) and False Pinion (Litholomia napaea).  Nothing in the bait trap yet.

Still very little to report…

I was in Lethbridge over the weekend and due winds which gusted to more than 100km I was only able to put the moth trap out on Friday night.  I did get 11 Speckled Green Fruitworm (Orthosia hibisci) moths but nothing else.  Back in Calgary there was also 1 Orthosia hibisci in the trap last night.

 

Speckled Green Fruitworm (Orthosia hibisci)

 

Finally, a new moth…

I had my second backyard moth of the year yesterday.  It was another (or perhaps the same) Dot-and-Dash Swordgrass (Xylena curvimacula).  However, while searching for wildlife to photograph at Glenmore reservoir I found a moth that I have not seen before.  It was “The Infant” Archiearis infans.  Apparently, this is a non-hibernating day flying moth that is often seen before the snow has completely melted.  Unfortunately, the image quality is not great as I did not have a macro lens with me (should have known better) so I had to take the photographs with my 100-400 telephoto zoom…  Either way, great to finally get a second moth species for the year!

While at Glenmore I also had some very close views of a Red-breasted Merganser.

  

Some other wildlife…

The weather remains poor with freezing drizzle this morning so I’ve been reduced to going through some of last years non moth photographs.  Perhaps not a bad thing as I found these previously overlooked images…

Moth Photographs

Unfortunately, poor weather has stopped me from putting the moth trap out since my first macro moth of the year on the 1st of April.

I have just completed updating the moth photographs on my flickr website which is located at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ipmcanada/sets/72157625839443694/

This set consists of 550 photographs covering approximately 303 species of Alberta moths.  With regards to the image quality, I learn a little each year and I am hoping to produce some improved photographs in 2013.  Weather permitting of course

First backyard Macro Moth of 2013

Finally, we’ve had a few evenings where the temperature has remained above freezing.  It’s still dipping below freezing after a few hours but it was warm enough for a single macro moth to find its way into my light trap.  This is the same species reported as an early moth by several others in Alberta.