Xestia baja
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Xestia baja, the dotted clay, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, Turkey, northern Iran, Transcaucasia, the Caucasus, central Asia, Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 2 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dotted Clay sighting in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 100th most-seen of the 300 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Dotted Clay in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to June, the lowest months.
Between midnight and 3 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dotted Clay sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Dotted Clay sightings, Cairngorms National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, about 10%) and Wadden Sea National Park (Germany, about 10%).
Same genus: Xestia
The closest relatives of the Dotted Clay that you can see in Cairngorms National Park (genus Xestia) are Square-Spot Rustic (about 10%), Double Square-Spot (about 10%) and Six-Striped Rustic (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dotted Clay is recorded against all the insects logged in Cairngorms National Park (25 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
