First sign of Spring??

[Chris Pickford]

After all this white stuff, it was refreshing last night to open the door to let the cat out and have a moth fly in! Nothing very exciting (appeared to be a November Moth, obviously elderly and confused) but at least it was a lep!
Chris

[Dave McCormick]

Well I wouldn't count that as the first signs of spring and are you sure that was a November moth? Seems rather late for them. At the start of the month I was moth trapping in a forest not far from my house witha 6 watt heath trap and found these (all in one night):

32 Chestnut
5 March Moth
1 Pale Brindled Beauty male
2 Dotted Border male

and then it got cold again after that and was snowing this morning here. I was told that this year so far has been the coldest since 1979 when it was snowing in Northern Ireland on 1st May, but reading the weather, if it stays as is predicted, its looking much milder next week and warmer and dryer. Hopefully as I have a moth trapping night next friday at my great aunts bog along with someone else I know, has to be not frosty or snowing to catch something with the vatious traps we are going to use.

I haven't seen a butterfly since November last year, but maybe my middle of march the first butterflies should start showing up.