Chandos Road, Ampthill.

I know that there have been a lot of posts on this Blog concerning moths over the past few weeks. I was given a free moth-trap after agreeing to take part in the Garden Moth Scheme. I record the moths caught every Thursday evening and the results are collated with those of hundreds of other amateur enthusiasts across the country. I've also been putting the moth-trap out on other nights and attending various events so that I can learn as much as I can. The exciting thing is that you never know what's going to turn up. Last night at Maulden Wood was a case in point (see above)...and there were other goodies like a Southern Hawker dragonfly and Volucella pellucens hoverfly attracted to the lights, too!

But the star of the night at Chandos Road turns out to have been this relatively non-descript creature...



If the Leopard Moth (above) is the equivalent of the avian Bullfinch, then this is Lepidoptera's equivalent of the Garden Warbler...the fact that there's not many defining features goes a long way to defining it!

It's a Fen Wainscot and, much to my amazement, it turns out to be a scarce species and is only the 15th record in Bedfordshire!

And to think that I almost didn't bother to try and identify it!!