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, 4 August 2025

A trio of small catches

Well it seemed like someone flicked the switch off labelled 'Moth Productivity' because in a week that I had off from moth recording, I went from 60 to 80 species a night, to as low as 25 to 45! Crazy.

Also variety has tailed off now, usually I expect this to happen mid August, but it's certainly happened a bit earlier in my garden.
This could well be due to the unsettled weather at the start of August (Normal school holiday weather). With showery outburts and gusty winds, nevertheless it has still been warm and humid even at 20 degrees.
 
Here are 3 nights of catches listing the new ones.
On the 31st and the 1st, catches were pretty rubbish, with temperatures dropping nearly into single figures. 
On the plus side, the only new ones on both of those nights were migrant moths. 
 
The 2nd of August was much better, with 40 odd species and with again, just the one new species for the year, but a Coleophora and Phyllonorycter were retained, the Phyllonorycter looks quite good for mespilella.
 
The weather continues to be rather unsettled and stormy for August, picking up as we continue through the week.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 596 species

31/07/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Micro Moths

Udea ferrugalis 1 [NFY]

 

01/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Micro Moths

Nomophila noctuella 1 [NFY]

 

02/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Micro Moths

Argyresthis semifusca 1 [NFY]

 

Udea ferrugalis
 
Yellow Shell

Agriphila tristella

Argyresthia semifusca

Coleophora vestianella

Nomophila noctuella

Phyllonorycter mespilella? tbc

Turnip Moth

Posted by Bennyboymothman at 22:43