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, I have now removed commenting as the bots were starting to appear
Contact Email : bensale@rocketmail.com

My Latest Notables and Rarities

Wednesday, 9 July 2025

A busy night! Over 500 species in style.

A really busy night on the 28th of June, my wifes birthday and subsequently I had to forfeit joining everyone at Wicken Fen. 
The garden would have to do and it did very well! Staying up was mandatory as it was warm, but a bit windy sadly, still there were many moths blowing in to the garden. 
 
Best moth of the night was a stunning Silver Barred, a common moth locally at the fens, so I guess it was only a matter of time before one winged its way to my trap.
 
A Small Emerald was a welcome splash of brightness and several of the micro moths were only the second record for the garden, they were Cydia nigricana & Monochroa lucidella. 
 
11 new species for the year in one night was a huge uplift in recent times, possibly due to staying up and working the trap until nearly 1am, and then rising at 4!
 
It took me over 500 species for the year, 80 ahead of 2024 on the same date. 
 
The warm weather continued until the start of July.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 503 species

28/06/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Fen Wainscot 1 [NFY]
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 1 [NFY]
Silver Barred 1 [NFG]
Small Emerald 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Bryotropha senectella 1 [NFY]
Catoptria falsella 1 [NFY]
Chilo phragmitella 1 [NFY]
Cydia nigricana 1 [NFY]
Gelechia senticetella 1 [NFY]
Monochroa lucidella 1 [NFY]
Patania ruralis 3 [NFY]

Bryotropha senectella

Chilo phragmitella

Cydia nigricana

Fen Wainscot

Gelechia senticetella

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

Monochroa lucidella

Patania ruralis

Silver Barred

Small Emerald

 

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 21:34