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, 18 April 2026

Earliest ever Willow Beauty

I trapped my earliest Willow Beauty on Thursday night, a rather small specimen more akin to the late summer third broods, I guess it's pupated a little early and emerged rapidly. 

It was good to see some more of the returning common species as well. The temperature stayed just into double figures all night, but with a gusty wind once more by dawn.

The best moth of the night was a slightly worn Depressaria radiella, a moth that should be much more common than it is, this is only the 3rd garden record in 5 years. It feeds from various varieties of Umbelliferae which is prolific pretty much everywhere.
Whether it's not strongly attracted to light? or maybe it is easy pickings to be predated on within the stems of the dead plants over winter, who knows. 
 
After the warm day of 20 degrees on Thursday, I made a trip out as I knew it would be turning cooler at nights now for at least a week.

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 85 species

16/04/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths 
 
Angle Shades 1 [NFY]
Iron Prominent 1 [NFY]
Seraphim 3 [NFY]
Spectacle 1 [NFY]
Streamer 1 [NFY]
Willow Beauty 1 [NFY]
Chinese Character 1
Clouded Drab 2
Common Quaker 1
Double-striped Pug 4
Early Grey 2
Hebrew Character 2
Nut-tree Tussock 4
Oak-tree Pug 4
Pale Prominent 1
Pine Beauty 1
Red Chestnut 1
Swallow Prominent 2
 
Micro Moths
 
Depressaria radiella 1 [NFY]
Elachista canapennella 1 [NFY]
Epiphyas postvittana 3 
 
Willow Beauty

Angle Shades

Depressaria radiella

Iron Prominent

Seraphim

Streamer

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 14:32