Yesterday I finally submitted my dissertation, marking the beginning of the end of my time at university - just an exam to struggle through in two weeks time and then it's all over! The past couple of months worth of dissertation writing have been fairly smooth sailing, but the assignment itself would never have been completed without a lot of procrastination.
Most of that procrastination has materialised in the form of entering records into the National Moth Recording Scheme's online database, to a point where I have now caught up with my massive backlog of data stretching back to summer 2013!
Last week I received an email from Alan Skeates, the vice county recorder for Mull, letting me know that my record of Cochylis nana was a first for the island. Considering how few people actively search for micro-moths on Mull, this didn't come as a surprise. It sounds a greedy, but given how under-recorded the island is, I had hoped that a few more of my records would be island 'firsts'. I think a return visit is definitely on the cards!
Cochylis nana - the first record for Mull
Epinotia bilunana - the second record for Mull
Phyllonorycter ulmifoliella - the second record for Mull
The above three moths were found in this small patch of wind-sculpted birch wood on the south-west coast of Mull - one of the most eerily beautiful places I've ever found myself searching for wildlife.
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