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

Sunday, 15 May 2011

Herts Moth Group meeting - Sherrardspark Wood - 14/05/11

The best moth of the night a Map-winged Swift which I rather keenly netted and suspected it to be yet another Common Swift! indeed it wasn't but my first ever Map-winged Swift! it was also a first sighting for many of the other keen people who turned up and braved possibly the wettest, windiest and coldest night we've experienced for a long while!

It is also of a different form (f. gallicus) having different markings to a typical specimen.

From what I know it feeds on the roots of Bracken, which there is plenty of at Sherrardspark Wood, why this moth isn't at Thorndon Country Park (the biggest space of open Bracken in the County of Essex) is beyond me! perhaps it is, perhaps we have yet to find it, who knows!

Other species of note were Brindled White-spot and Lobster Moth.

Map-winged Swift f. gallicus










Lobster Moth
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 10:31

2 comments:

  1. Stewart15 May 2011 at 20:22

    Hi Ben, MWS is a common visitor in my garden, of both forms but the brighter one is commonest. I would like a Lobster Moth though. Its amazing that they are scarce in Essex....maybe its too warm ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ornithom15 May 2011 at 21:24

    Hi Ben,

    Interesting that the weather has turned to this horrible cold NW. Exactly the same as last year's National Moth Night!! Still...a good night for you though, my trap only resulted in some pugs, Common Marbled Carpets and 1 Brimstone (for that touch of class).

    Regards

    Steve T

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