No rhyme nor reason?

My current garden mothing is little more than a casual dalliance. In times gone by, it was far more serious but now, in many ways mirrors my birding and angling in as much as in 2023, enjoying the experience, not involvement with the mainstream, is what keeps me motivated. I do things my way and don't require the blessing of a third party before something unusual is "accepted". If I make a complete pig's ear of an id, so what? No one dies, it's only a bloody moth after all. Last night saw very humid conditions, complete with occasional lightning and accompanying rain. As darkness fell, the Red Valerian at the front of the bungalow was alive with Silver Y's, which was all the excuse required to grab the camera.

At 04.30 hrs, I turned the Robinson MV off and was immediately aware that Green Oak Tortrix numbers had risen again. There were sixteen on the outside of the perspex dome (a further thirty-one on the egg trays when I later examined the contents). I'm finding myself spending more time attempting to capture images of the micros, rather than worrying about how many Setaceous Hebrew Characters or Heart & Darts there are. What I did find puzzling, however, was the fact that not a single Silver Y had been attracted despite the obvious numbers present the previous evening. Pearly Underwing, The Delicate and numerous Diamond-backs were the only other obvious migrant species, but there were a couple of residents which were very welcome.

Puss Moth

Beautiful Hook-tip

I've not recorded Dark Swordgrass this year, which is very weird, but I've not attracted a Poplar Hawk-moth either, so something isn't quite right?  The first Box-tree Moths (three) turned up this morning and are probably a pre-cursor to another huge eruption. 

Apple Leaf-miner

Codling Moth

Where will garden mothing take me over these coming months? I've absolutely no idea but do know "you've got to be in it, to discover the answer"  So there I was, clicking away at whatever took my fancy and I managed a couple of, very poor, shots of a boring little brown job. Having had time to actually look at my results, it would appear that this little chap might be quite a good record? I'm drawn towards Straw Flat-body for the id, but haven't completely ruled out Pale Flat-body as a possibility, although wing shape certainly favours the former species.

Straw Flat-body?