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

Monday, 28 July 2025

Less new ones, but a big WOW!

The weather started to cool down at the start of last week and although it was still pleasant by day, the nights lost the humidity and were coupled with breeze and sporadic rain showers.
On the 19th, species dipped to just above 50 overnight, with lots of repeats.
 
However, it only took one moth to be worth the early morning sort through, a fantastic Jersey Mocha! 
It was to be the 2nd county record for Cambridgeshire, with the 1st one recorded in 2019 in Stretham.
 
It is a moth i'm not very familiar with, having only ever seen one before in 2016, which was a county first for Hertfordshire with Ian Bennell nearly a decade ago.
It's most probable that it dispersed from a population along the south coast with brisk southerly winds in place, it could have also been a genuine migrant.
 
Two other species were new for the year, both have been regular this past week, they were Marbled Beauty & Oak Processionary. 
 
There was one more garden catch on a favourable night on the 22nd, and then that's it now until our patio is finished. 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 586 species

19/07/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths 
 
Jersey Mocha 1 [NFG]
Marbled Beauty 1 [NFY]
Oak Processionary 1 [NFY]

Oak Processionary

Jersey Mocha

Marbled Beauty


Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:11