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

Saturday, 28 February 2026

A new garden micro moth!

It's always nice to get a new species for the garden.

It was Ypsolopha mucronella's turn last night, a sporadic visitor to light, and looking back at my previous records it's not that common. The caterpillar feeds from Spindle.

Overall it was the best night of the month (And possibly best night ever in February) with 40 moths of 12 species.

Two other species were new for the year, a very nicely marked Lead-coloured Drab, and an equally impressive smart Acleris literana. 
 
The 2nd Black-spotted Chestnut of the year was also recorded.
 
Hebrews and Quakers are going neck and neck for top position currently, making up over half of the catch.
 
The trap is getting a break for a few nights now. 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 28 species

27/02/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths 
  
Lead-coloured Drab 1 [NFY] 
Black-spotted Chestnut 1 
Clouded Drab 2
Common Quaker 12
Dotted Border 1
Hebrew Character 10
March Moth 6
Oak Beauty 3
Small Quaker 1 

Micro Moths 
 
Acleris literana 1 [NFY]
Ypsolopha mucronella 1 [NFG]
Agonopterix alstromeriana 1  
Agonopterix heracliana 2 
 
Ypsolopha mucronella

Acleris literana

Black-spotted Chestnut

Lead-coloured Drab

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 16:18