Whilst out completing a Heronry survey in a local forest I noticed some very pale coloured insects hovering amongst the trees. To my surprise when I watched one land it wasn't whitish at all, it was a mottled grey tortrix moth. Perplexed by a moth that I didn't recognise I went back to the car for a net and a few pots. After a little searching I found another one and managed to catch it. After some reading up and studying with a hand lens I came to the conclusion that the most likely identity to these mystery moths was Epinotia pygmaeana. This species lives on conifer trees, has feathery/comb like antenna and a white patch in the hind wing, which is what I initially saw, when in flight.

It all fitted, so a quick check of the MothsIreland Mapfor the species started to make me doubt myself. It has only been recorded at a handful of sites in Ireland and never in Northern Ireland before. An email with a few images was sent to the Northern Ireland moth recorder, who was reasonably happy with the identification, but wanted an image showing the underwing to be sure. A few days later I got confirmation of it's identity.

It's always nice to add a little to our knowledge of the nature around us.