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

Friday, 25 March 2022

Caloptilia capers!

O my goodness, I was reminded this morning how hard Caloptilia are to photograph.
It would not stop walking around, so I fridged  it for half an hour, but as soon as I got it outside in the daylight it was moving again.
2nd attempt, no luck, then the freezer for 2 minutes...still walking. Then 5 minutes was too long and it wasn't moving at all.
Luckily, in a few minutes it was waking up and sat still for about 40 seconds? Enough time to fire off some shots using the 90mm macro lens coupled with the Raynox DCR-250.
The only problem I find with using the Raynox as well, is that blurring of the foreground. I guess if I stacked images that would be alleviated, but it's far too time consuming.
I was happy it sat still for long enough!
 
Caloptilia stigmatella was to be garden moth species no.243. 
 
The rest of the catch wasn't too bad at all, made up mostly of Noctuids and nearly all of them were safely in the trap away from the robin!

Moth garden list for 2022 stands at 39 species

24/03/22 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths
 
Chestnut 1
Clouded Drab 5
Common Quaker 5
Double-striped Pug 1
Early Grey 2
Early Thorn 1
Hebrew Character 1
Red Chestnut 2
Small Quaker 4
 
Micro Moths
 
Caloptilia stigmatella 1 [NFG]
Emmelina monodactyla 4
Epiphyas postvittana 1

Caloptilia stigmatella


Posted by Bennyboymothman at 10:19

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