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, 8 July 2023

A duo of catches whilst the nights were a bit cooler

Well it's all change again, for a few nights only (last night and tonight) with highs of 29 degrees and lows of 18 at night, tonight could be just as busy as last night was.
More on that in subsequent posts.
 
I ran my trap on the 2nd and the 5th of July last week, daytime temperatures were hampered a bit and we struggled to hit 22 degrees, great for working outside in I must add!
Some nights went as low as single figures, and so it was decided that it wouldn't be worth running a trap on those nights, and another night it rained heavy for most of the night... another dark night.

But on the two ocassions I did run the trap, there were some quality over quantity to be had.

Who would turn down a garden first Large Emerald for example! What a moth.
And to top that off, the next outing for the trap turned up a Delicate, another new addition to the garden.

I also attracted my 5th Dusky Clearwing, again in really good condition.

Temperatures look great tonight, maybe for a few nights after then it's back to some challenging conditions.

Only new for year species listed below.


Moth garden list for 2023 stands at 456 species
 

02/07/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths
 
Large Emerald 1 [NFG]
Single-dotted Wave 1 [NFY]
 
Micro Moths

Scrobipalpa ocellatella 1 [NFY]


05/07/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths
 
Clay 2 [NFY]
Dark Umber 1 [NFY]
Delicate 1 [NFG]
Dusky Sallow 1 [NFY]
Swallow-tailed Moth 1 [NFY]
Wormwood Pug 1 [NFY]
 
Micro Moths

Acleris notana ferrugana 1 [NFG]
Borkhausenia fuscescens 1 [NFY]
Cnephasia longana 1 [NFY] 
Caloptilia semifascia 1 (summer form)

Large Emerald

Scrobipalpa ocellatella

Single-dotted Wave

Borkhausenia fuscescens

Caloptilia semifascia

Clay

Cnephasia longana

Delicate

Dusky Sallow

Swallow-tailed Moth

Wormwood Pug


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