During my mornings visit to my local patch at Staunton Harold Reservoir, I discovered a juvenile Black-necked Grebe. A rare bird for the site, with the last ones, I found, recorded in March 2018.
Later in the day I received a phone call from Will Soar advising me of a new species of moth he had trapped over-night in his garden. It soon became apparent that there was an event happening with the Beet Moth. We believe this to be the first record of the species for Derbyshire.
During 2022 there was a major irruption and range expansion of Scrobipalpa ocellatella. Hundreds of reports from many inland counties were reported. This micro moth has only previously been recorded as a local and predominantly coastal species of southern England from Suffolk round to Cornwall, Isles of Scilly and Channel Islands.
Known as the Beet Moth, the sugar beet industry put out a warning to farmers to be on the look out for larval feeding, and it was soon apparent that this influx was a problem at some sites. There had been a a rapid and extensive range expansion and specimens were being recorded from as far north as Kincardineshire, in Scotland, Lancashire and the Midlands.
