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

Tuesday, 1 September 2026

End of August brings the migrants

The last night of August 2026 was fairly good at my home trap, with no rain overnight (although there was a small chance of a localised shower early morning).
Less species than the last outing, but the quality improved and there were several species that didn't feature in that catch.
Tawny Wave was back again, a real beautiful coloured specimen as well.
 
There were 3 Tawny-speckled Pugs, and the most numerous macro moth was Flounced Rustic at 17. For the micros, Agriphila geniculea was well ahead of anything else, with 22 counted.
 
A 3rd yearly record of Blue Underwing was also great to see, somehow squeezing into my trap. 
 
Best moth of the night was a Scarce Bordered Straw, completing the trio of migrant Straws this year (Bordered & Eastern).
 
There were also several Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella) and 5 Rusty Dot-pearls (Udea ferrugalis), possibly the most I've ever had in one night. 
 
Not content with one new moth, a mint Feathered Gothic was also added to the year list, a moth that is scarce here and was last seen in 2023.
 
Just one more moth to make it equal to the best year. 
 
 
Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 676 species 
 
31/08/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 

Macro Moths 

Feathered Gothic 1 [NFY]
Scarce Bordered Straw 1 [NFY] 
 
Tawny-speckled Pug

Feathered Gothic

Nomophila noctuella

Scarce Bordered Straw

Tawny Wave

 



Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:22