Sunday 20th. April 2014

Just a quick post with some incredible news on the small moth that I posted following a visit to Old Lodge Reserve on Ashdown Forest . I spent ages trawling through photographs of UK moths , finding nothing like it , and to be honest , getting frustrated at not finding it . I would love to be able to say that I eventually solved the ID , but I can't . The caterpillar that I also needed help with was identified by Spock as a Clouded Buff , for which I am very grateful  . Later , another comment from Spock , informing me that the moth was Musitoma nitidalis , an Australian species , introduced to the UK on imported ferns . I immediately Googled the name , to which I got the reply that it 'did not match any documents' , and I was back to square one again . I tried searching a list of Australian moths and drew a blank , and was just about to give up when I Googled ' Australian moth found on imported ferns' , and bingo , up came a couple of entries , and a photo , and an name , Mustoma

nitidalis / Marbled Fern . A few more clicks and I found that it was first recorded in Dorset and most recent records were from the East Grinstead area . I also found a report of the first person to record the species here , which turned out to be a similar drawn out venture like mine , but he got his name attached to the moth . I have since sent the record to the Sussex Moth Recorder , but haven't heard back from him yet . So there you have it , a little moth , a long , long way from home .
And finally , a visit up to Burnt Gorse at High Elms LNR , is search of Green Hairstreak and Dingy and Grizzled Skipper failed , not helped by cloud rolling in on my arrival and a chilly wind blowing

up the slope , But on my way found Yellow Archangel / Lamiastrum galeobdolon , a member of the

Labiate family , in flower , a single shot of a male Bullfinch , just before he spotted me , and on my

way back to the car under grey skies , a male Kestrel looking for a meal .