The Daily Moth 1,082. It seems that all my garden records of the stunning Dyseriocrania subpurpurella have been in this middle fortnight of April. Most have been daytime wanderers. The new vernacular is Common Spring Jewel. Yep… I buy that. Very fitting. #MuchAdoAboutMothing

Cyprus Scops Owl twitch…

The Daily Moth 1,081. With its 1st (smaller) generation flying now, Engrailed is an enigma. Not only has there been debate about whether it is the same or different species to ‘Small Engrailed’, but because it really doesn’t like my garden (just 2 records!) #MuchAdoAboutMothing

Lots of good birds on Cyprus today with ⁦Mike Buckland⁩ - inc three world ticks - but this Problepis ocellata and some stunning owl-flies stole the show…

The Daily Moth 1,080. My only Autumn Green Carpet was caught in mid-April. Like its similar-looking congener, Red-green Carpet, it can overwinter as an adult. Yet the sparse Norfolk records are all in autumn. Are they migrants? Or a clandestine resident? #MuchAdoAboutMothing

The Daily Moth 1,079. On 4 Apr, I caught a Least Black Arches. It would also have been Norfolk’s earliest ever had one not been trapped 3 days earlier, on April Fool’s Day. Sadly, the climate crisis – which is driving these phenological changes – is no joke. #MuchAdoAboutMothing

Last night: the first Silver Y of the year to my Norwich garden traps (I did little jig of immigrant-moth joy), plus my earliest-ever Spectacle and Shuttle-shaped Dart. Migrant Lepidoptera #MuchAdoAboutMothing #MothsMatter

The Daily Moth 1,078. Shoulder Stripe is a fave early-spring moth, its many lines positing that brown is the new brown. This year, this dapper geometer been a late-winter moth too, with Norfolk’s 1st (19 Feb) being a record-breaker. Early round your way too? #MuchAdoAboutMothing

“Look for one of spring’s earliest orchids: all ten thousand of them!” It’s off to Dorset’s Purbeck today with #52WildlifeWeekends (edn 2), searching for various reptiles, Early Spider Orchid, Emperor Moth and perhaps Natterjack Toad. tinyurl.com/52wildlife @bradtguides

The Daily Moth 1,077. Another sign of a daftly early spring has been the Swallow Prominents winging around last month. There were 3+ in Norfolk (almost the earliest ever), so I’m eagerly awaiting one. Hands up if you have already caught this chunky stunner? #MuchAdoAboutMothing

The Daily Moth 1,076. Catching the smartly garbed spring-flyer that is Frosted Green is a joy. Blending green, black and silvery marbling with superbly daft, ear-like thorax tufts, it’s an Elizabethan ruff with wings. #MuchAdoAboutMothing

One of the best songs there is. Brings back fond memories

Sunrise survey. It was good to free myself from the office and plot farmland birds on maps early this morning.

The Daily Moth 1,075. I wrote about Tawny Pinion only 2 weeks ago. But this curiosity again grabs my attention. Barely a year ago I twitched my 1st (it was a ‘bogey moth’), then caught my own that very night. Then last week I caught 2 in a trap. London buses? #MuchAdoAboutMothing

The Daily Moth 1,074. Like last week’s Double-striped Pug, Brindled Pug seems to have been about in numbers earlier than normal this year. Although I have yet to catch one, I’ve seen pics of darker-than-normal individuals on social media too. Any connection? #MuchAdoAboutMothing

The Daily Moth 1,073. I cannot fathom the range of Scarce Prominent. Widespread but local in mature birch woods in S England, with pockets N-wards before being more regular (tho' living up to its name) from Yorks north. Why absent from birch-rich E Anglia? #MuchAdoAboutMothing

Editing today produces a new word for me: 'spiggin' = the proteinous secretion from the kidneys of a male 3-spined Stickleback. Derives from the Swedish name for this sp., i.e. ‘spigg’, which – in turn – prob originates from the word ‘spik’, which refers to its spines – or spikes

The Daily Moth 1,072. Double-striped Pug is not usually a moth to which I pay much attention. A run of them in early spring has changed that, because they were as fresh as a daisy – and utterly gorgeous. It got me thinking: what is our most underrated moth? #MuchAdoAboutMothing

Enjoyed this in N Norfolk yesterday. Look at the colours on that throat patch!

The Daily Moth 1,071. Early Thorns are living up to their name this year, holding their wings up above their body in many a moth trap. Seeing it in 2019 prompted my daughter to ask about the differences between moths & butterflies. Nice school-run convo. #MuchAdoAboutMothing