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

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

First proper catch of the year

After a mild day at the Zoo, I decided to set the trap up at 5.30pm and as I did it began to drizzle, but luckily the sky was thick with lovely warming clouds...no bright moon tonight!
Come the morning it was still trying to rain but was relatively mild at 7 degrees.
I didn't really expect 13 moths in and around the trap!
8 Tortricodes alternella's made up the bulk of the catch.
The best moth had to be the pretty little Acleris cristana, a garden first.
The 3 new for year Micros bump the species tally up to 8.

Edit 

Whilst giving the garden a weed, a quick scout around the garden fences yielded another 5 moths! 4 Dotted Border's and 1 Emmelina monodactyla.
Another two new ones for the year!

Catch Report - 17/02/14 - Back Garden Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

4x Dotted Border [NFY]
2x Chestnut
1x Pale Brindled Beauty 

Micro Moths

1x Acleris cristana [NFG]
8x Tortricodes alternella [NFY]
1x Acleris schalleriana [NFY]
1x Emmelina monodactyla

Acleris cristana













Chestnuts











Tortricodes alternella










Dotted Border's


Posted by Bennyboymothman at 08:55

4 comments:

  1. Trent Duval18 February 2014 at 15:56

    Nice catch ... I've got you down for 10 species so far in '14, I presume you will carry on with the race.
    Now where have I heard that before ? Ben 10

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bennyboymothman18 February 2014 at 18:10

    Yes I will indeed, I had trouble trying to implement the txt last time, so will have a fiddle in a mo.
    Thanks, might try again tomorrow night.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Broom Birder19 February 2014 at 08:34

    A good haul Ben, you certainly have a good spot for the early woodland species.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bennyboymothman20 February 2014 at 19:41

    Thanks Matt, I think the ancient Oaks help loads! Lots of Acer and Sycamore too.

    ReplyDelete

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