August continues well...

As someone all too well acquainted with the birder's summer doldrums, I'm appreciating the fact that moth-ers can enjoy July and August perhaps more than any other months. Certainly August seems at the moment at least as productive as July: so far we've had 154 species in the garden, compared to 204 in the whole of July, and the last week or so has produced some 60-odd species most nights, and usually over 200 individuals: comparing very well with 2012. It's also produced some welcome new species: I've long wanted a Lime-speck Pug to show up, as it's such a good contrast to most of its family:

Lime-speck Pug, 11th August

I thought Canary-shouldered Thorn rather handsome, and it was good to find an Old Lady in the trap: I've seen them in the garden in previous years on apples, but not previously had them come to light.

Canary-shouldered Thorn, 9th August

Old Lady, 11th August

It's also good to find species which hadn't featured among our expectations at all - such as Small Phoenix (I didn't even really register its existence before finding it), Chinese Character and the micro Lobseia littoralis which, as its name suggests, is commoner on the coast than as far inland as Oxfordshire).

Small Phoenix, 10th August

Chinese Character, 10th August

Lobesia littoralis, 8th August

We're now away for another week, so I expect to sink in the rankings once again - but look forward to the second half of August if it continues to be as productive as the first couple of weeks of it.