I've seen references to folks finding various species on winter moths "while searching tree trunks". I assume this involves torch-light manoeuvres in the dark but could people suggest the best sort of habitat / times of night / tips for finding the beasts?

I was gobsmacked to find one fluttering around my little actinic in Islington on Saturday night.

From a hedgerow in Herefordshire. I think this might be a bit overexposed.

Is this specimen a bit too worn to id? From north London.

Unidentified Moth by Alastair Rae, on Flickr

Turns out I did have another shot of the other one. I posted it on the other thread.viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8832

I dug this shot out of the recycle bin. My county recorder agrees it is probably Diamond-back Moth Plutella xylostella
Record shot of unidentified moth by Alastair Rae, on Flickr

Thanks Bertie. I'd go along with Light Brown Apple Moth. I didn't know the females were so different.

Afraid I don't have any other shots of the other one. Little beggar wouldn't sit still.

From inner London. Acleris?
Another unidentified micro-moth by Alastair Rae, on Flickr

About 6mm. Landed on the chopping board in the kitchen!
I was wondering about Plutella but I'm probably wildly wrong.
Unidentified Micromoth by Alastair Rae, on Flickr

I picked up this medium-sized day flyer on a beach in N. Ireland. Is it too faded to id?

Thanks for that. I had considered Gypsy Moth because of people reporting them in traps recently but had dismissed it because I thought it was too rare!

I found this rather battered chap fluttering in the middle of a main road in north London.
I was tending towards Willow Beauty but maybe he's too beefy? Measuring my hand, I'd say it's about 50 mm across the base. 35 mm FW?

Is the "bald patch" on a moth thorax natural wear and tear or is it due to being kept in a pot.
This is a good example with a nasty looking red patch:

Thanks, Tony.

I can't work out this one. Came to a lighted window in inner London.
The hindwing uppers are straw-coloured with a narrow dark band.

I don't have a euro-moth book. Who's this distinctive thing:

It does look as though there are digital moth records for the London area. In this article Greenspace Information for Greater London boast of having acquired moth records but they're not publicly available. And here the National Moth Recording Scheme say "access to records will be provided for ...

Pardon me for replying to my own post. Since I can't believe I'm getting lots for "firsts" for inner London, must conclude that NBN doesn't have data from the London Natural History Society or whatever. There are hardly any records for even common and easily identifiable day-flyers like Bu...

My partner & I have only started keeping a moth list since last year. Her office in Finsbury Park, inner North London, gets lots of moths in the stairwell and we're doing our best to id the macros. Looking on the National Biodiversity Network grid maps, most of the species have no records inside...

bugboy wrote:I would say thats a micro, a rather dark Endotricha flammealis

Thanks for that. Good record I think as the NBN map doesn't show any other records inside the London ring road.