Today, with a clear blue sky, I was standing underneath a big Crack Willow and it was raining. The rain was sticky and when I looked closely at the tree is was covered with thousands of frothy masses of “Cuckoo-spit” made by frog hoppers (perhaps Aphrophora salicina) and these were dripping a clear fluid.
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At last a warmish night and the local moths responded with increased activity. The catch totalled 156 of 40 species. A new one for the reserve (and the total is over 600 species) was a Netted Pug. The hawk-moths were represented by two Poplar and one Privet Hawk-moth. Other new species for the year included Dark Spectacle, Shoulder striped Wainscot, Beautiful Golden Y, Gold Triangle and Ghost Moth.