Chippenham Fen - Field Trip - 29/05/21

I made my first trip to Chippenham Fen on Saturday night.

The day had been warm at around 22 degrees, but with clear skies all day (and night sadly) I would be up against falling temperatures.

Luckily for the duration I was there, there was no moon present (Which was rising as I drove home).

 

I decided to run 4 traps, 2 MV's and 2 Actinic's, spread around the entrance to the site.

 

Moths were really slow to come to the lights, I also did some sweeping before lights were switched on and just could not find anything, a testament to how poor this year has been so far, micro moths were pretty much absent.

 

The temperature dropped to 7c by midnight and so I decided to slowly pack up.

 

Some great species were found in and around the traps in the long grass, fresh Eyed Hawk-moths, at least 16 of the reedbed specialist Flame Wainscot, a great number to record, and plenty of Prominents.

 

The two best species of the night were a duo of Grey Birch, a species I haven't seen for 11 years (In Essex). Not a common moth it would appear in Cambridgeshire and last seen in 2005 at this very site.

 

The other good moth is a tentative County first Caloptilia honoratella. I've done very well for this species in my garden over the last two years, it does look quite like all of the ones that I have had dissected. It's rather worn, and sadly expired when I got home. There is plenty of foodplant present in the young woodland where the trap was sited.

 

There are also two Elachista's to de dissected.

 

Despite low numbers of common moths, it was great to see some fresh examples of newly hatched moths.

Catch Report - Chippenham Fen - Cambridgeshire - 29/05/21 - 4 traps - 1x 250w Clear Tubular MV Robinson Trap, 1x 125w MV Trap, 1x Twin 15w Actinic Trap & 1x Quad 20w Wemlite Actinic and 15w Synergetic Trap

43 Macro Moth species & 16 Micro Moth species - 59 species in total

Macro Moths

Alder Moth 1 

Brimstone Moth 5
Chocolate-tip 1
Cinnabar 1
Clouded-bordered Brindle 2
Clouded Border 1
Common Carpet 1
Common Pug 2
Common Swift 2
Common Wainscot 1
Common Wave 1
Common White Wave 1
Coronet 1
Coxcomb Prominent 1
Cream Wave 3
Double-striped Pug 2
Eyed Hawk-moth 3
Flame Shoulder 1
Flame Wainscot 16
Green Carpet 15
Grey Birch 2
Iron Prominent 2
Large Nutmeg 1
Least Black Arches 1
Mottled Pug 1
Nut-tree Tussock 1
Orange Footman 10
Pale Oak Beauty 2
Pale Prominent 3
Pale Tussock 8
Pebble Hook-tip 4
Pebble Prominent 2
Peppered Moth 1
Poplar Grey 1
Pretty Chalk Carpet 1
Red Twin-spot Carpet 4
Ruby Tiger 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart 1
Silver-ground Carpet 2
Treble Lines 1

V-Pug 1

Waved Umber 2

White Ermine 1

Micro Moths

Agonopterix arenella 1
Argyresthia spinosella 1
Caloptilia sp 1
Celypha lacunana 1
Elachista sp 2
Elachista maculicerusella 1
Epinotia immundana 6

Eulia ministrana 1

Glyphipterix fuscoviridella 1
Micropterix calthella 1
Monopis laevigella 1
Monopis weaverella 5
Nematopogon metaxella 2
Notocelia cynosbatella 1
Syndemis musculana 1
Tinea semifulvella 1

250w MV Robinson Trap

Caloptilia sp TBC

Chippenham Fen at sunset

Clouded-bordered Brindle ab.combusta

Common White Wave

Elachista sp

Epinotia immundana

Eulia ministrana

Eyed Hawk-moth

Flame Wainscot

Grey Birch

Nematopogon metaxella
Pale Oak Beauty

Pretty Chalk Carpet

Actinic Combo Trap