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, 3 October 2026

700 species and hitting the mothing red-line

I have now hit a yearly all time high of 700 species, and that's probably the absolute maximum that my garden should/could attain. It was very apt that the 700th species was a Red-line Quaker, literally on the limit!

The 701st species also turned up with a fine Blair's Shoulder-knot.

Other good species included another two Vestals, the 7th of this week alone! Formerly rare here with single records in only 3 of the last 6 years.

Lunar Underwing was most prevalent, with Small Mottled Willow close behind, and Deep-brown Dart are having a really good year, with 4 to 5 most evenings.
A particularly nice example with dark markings was worthy of a quick snap. 
 
Endotricha flammealis go on and on these days, so it was no surprise to record 2 overnight, such a delicate and colourful little micro moth. 

The best moth last night though was a glorious Gold Spot, a moth I missed out on last year, a rare moth in my garden, moth no.702!

 
Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 702 species 
 
02/10/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Blair's Shoulder-knot 1 [NFY]
Gold Spot 1 [NFY]
Red-line Quaker 1 [NFY] 
Lunar Underwing 12
Vestal 2 
 
Micro Moths 
 
Acleris rhombana 1
Endotricha flammealis 2 
 
Blair's Shoulder-knot

Endotricha flammealis

Gold Spot

Lunar Underwing

Red-line Quaker

Vestals

 
Posted by Bennyboymothman at 20:19