Welcome

Hello and welcome to my moth Blog. I now reside in a small village in East Cambridgeshire called Fordham. My Blog's aim is to promote and encourage others to participate in the wonderful hobby that is Moth-trapping.
Moth records are vital for building a picture of our ecosystem around us, as they really are the bottom of the food chain. They are an excellent early indicator of how healthy a habitat is. I openly encourage people to share their findings via social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
So why do we do it? well for some people it is to get an insight into the world of Moths, for others it is to build a list of species much like 'Twitching' in the Bird world. The reason I do it....you just never know what you might find when you open up that trap! I hope to show what different species inhabit Cambridgeshire and neighbouring counties.
On this Blog you will find up-to-date records and pictures.
I run a trap regularly in my garden and also enjoy doing field trips to various localities over several different counties.
Please also check out the links in the sidebar to the right for other people's Blogs and informative Websites.
Thanks for looking and happy Mothing!

KEY

NFY = New Species For The Year
NFG = New Species For The Garden
NEW! = New Species For My Records

Any Species highlighted in RED signifies a totally new species for my records.

If you have any questions or enquiries then please feel free to email me
Contact Email : bensale@rocketmail.com

My Latest Notables and Rarities

Saturday, 26 February 2011

Field Trip - Parndon Wood - Thursday night

Had my second field trip of the year on thursday night (only the second!, yes that is how unpredictable the weather has been so far this year!)
I set my trap up complete with vertical hanging bedsheet on a hill at Parndon Wood, surrounded by mature Oak tree's, this looked a better spot than anywhere else.

The setup









It did indeed proove itself with no less than 176 moths of 12 species about what i'd expect this time of year in this sort of habitat.

The weather was indeed on my side too with 15 degrees recorded during the day, the clouds were slower to appear after dark than it was orignially predicted by the weather forecaster's and therefore the temperature did drop to a chilly 6c.

Here is the list of moths recorded using a 125w MV bulb

Macro Moths

15x Small Quaker (NFY)
39x Small Brindled Beauty (NFY)
18x Yellow Horned (NFY)
6x Dotted Border (NFY)
10x March Moth (NFY)
14x Oak Beauty (NFY)
2x Spring Usher
2x Chestnut
3x Pale Brindled Beauty


Oak Beauty




















Yellow Horned




















Small Quaker










Micro Moths

1x Agonopterix arenella (NFY) - a knackered individual from last year's brood
65x Tortricodes alternella (NFY)
1x Acleris notana/ferrugana (NFY)
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 09:26

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous26 February 2011 at 10:51

    Good catch there Ben.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sean Foote27 February 2011 at 18:57

    And no Common Quakers!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bennyboymothman28 February 2011 at 17:05

    Thanks Dean! I know Sean strange I never get many in woodland, also I was surprised at how little 'Chestnuts' turned up!

    ReplyDelete

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