As several here may already be aware, I engage in biological recording of the insect fauna of my locality, and disseminate the data to various conservation agencies.
This year has been seriously weird. As far as recording butterflies has been concerned, with one or two exceptions, such as the Holly Blue and Orange Tip that posed for photos in May, and the first sighting of a Small Copper I've had in three years, this year has been a disaster. The most abundant species has been, of all things, the Brimstone, a species I never expected to top the league table ever, and previously common species that I was recording in abundance in 2015, all but disappeared, including, lamentably, the Comma, which put in a record showing in 2015.
Move on to the moths, however, and it's been a different story. This year, I have had no less than twenty five lifetime first new species added to my tally. And, I've had species turn up at weird times of the year, when they're no longer supposed to be on the wing. The classic example of this being provided by a moth trapping session locally on 28th September, when I had a Brimstone Moth (they're supposed to have disappeared by now) and, of all things, a Beautiful Hook-Tip joining it! I can't ever recall seeing these two species together on the same night before!
Moreover, on one trapping session back in July, I had no less than 84 species turn up at the trap in a single night. That night on its own provided me with six lifetime firsts.
I'm wondering if anyone else has had a weird year nature wise (e.g., botany, bird watching).
I'll post the odd photo when I have the time, showing some of the fun things I've found this year.
