On Thursday evening I was lent a moth trap and was looking forward to viewing a some of our garden's nocturnal visitors. After some help siting it for best results, all I had to do was go to bed and hope no-one would steal it overnight!
In the morning, Moth Man returned. There were over 70 moths in the trap and 30 species. By far the largest was a Poplar Hawk Moth. The most brightly coloured had to be the Green Silver-Lines and the bright Brimstones. The most intriguing were the White and the Buff Ermines which appeared to be dead; it's a trick to confuse predators - well they certainly fooled me! There was also a Bee Moth (and a bumble bee had also found its way into the trap) and the most numerous were the May Highflyer and Small Square Spot.
The records have gone to the area moth recorder and I'm looking forward to mothing again. Our garden is an ideal place for mothing because it is surrounded by a several species of trees and wild flowers. The best nights for mothing tend to be warm, still and overcast.
from the field book
An inspiring gift for anyone who enjoys watching nature.
6 comments:
oh wonderful, i love moths and even in our city centre flat without a garden we've had the occasional beautiful large moth. Your mothing sounds most delightful!
Very interesting Carol, and the link from your chosen species to the UK Moth website is a worthy and useful effort....well done and so pleased you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next time.
Really enjoyed this, Carol. I wonder if you know/follow Seabrooke Leckie's brilliant blog, The Marvelous in Nature. She hosted the carnival, 'The Moth & Me' last month here...
Hi Carol - nice to catch up with you again after we have been away on holiday.
Dare I say that I have a pathological fear of moths - I so envy you being able to set up that trap - and to trap seventy is incredible.
Hi All,
THanks for your comments and links. I'm going to a moth event this morning at Yarrow Valley Park - more later.
Fear of moths? I suppose we're all frightened of some things. I'm not keen on horses and they seem to know it and keep following me!
just back from our trip to Pitlochry, we saw a wonderful variety of moths, didn't identify many of them though!
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