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 18 February 2023

The Cheshunt

Well it's turning into a bit of a Chestnut hunt here! Plenty of Dark & Black-spotted with around double-figures for both currently, but still no regular Chestnut.
I'm sure the ole' Chestnut will turn up sooner or later :)
 
Here's my weekly round-up of moths seen in my garden, with 6 new species for the year list, taking it to 18.
Numbers are still quite low, but very pleasing to see the start of the Spring species, particularly the Orthosia group of moths.
On Wednesday night there were two new micros for the year, Thursday brought another new micro and the 2nd plume moth in as many days.
The last night featured a spectacular new moth for the garden, a nice dark Small Brindled Beauty, my 684th species.
I also picked out one distinctly 'pink-tinged' Agonopterix this week, thinking it might be a potential Agonopterix ciliella, unfortunately checking the hindwing proved otherwise.
 
The very small Common Quaker was also a nice pink hue and warranted a photo for the album.
 
I still only have 2 all time records of Agonopterix ciliella.
 
The weather has been very mild, into the mid-teens recently and warm and windy at night, but it is set to get cooler next week.

Moth garden list for 2023 stands at 18 species

15/02/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Black-spotted Chestnut 1
Dark Chestnut 1
Spring Usher 1

Micro Moths

Agonopterix alstromeriana 1 [NFY]
Emmelina monodactyla 1 [NFY] 


16/02/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Common Quaker 1 [NFY]
Black-spotted Chestnut 1
Pale Brindled Beauty 1

Micro Moths

Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 1 [NFY]
Agonopterix heracliana 1 (Checked)

 

17/02/23 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Double-striped Pug 1 [NFY]
Small Brindled Beauty 1 [NFG]
Black-spotted Chestnut 2
Dark Chestnut 1
Pale Brindled Beauty 1

Micro Moths

Agonopterix heracliana sp 1
 
Agonopterix alstromeriana

Agonopterix heracliana

Agonopterix heracliana showing two dark lines

Amblyptilia acanthadactyla

Common Quaker

Emmelina monodactyla

Small Brindled Beauty

 

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 15:39

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