Friday 27 May 2016

Cors Dyfi - event report



On the Saturday morning of the Cors Dyfi event it was very wet and I’m sure everyone who was thinking of attending must have been wondering how the day would pan out, but, thankfully, it dried up in the afternoon leaving the weather fine and dry for the rest of the day.

I arrived on site by 7:30pm and with the aid of Julie, Mark and Clare we set up eight traps around the car park area, below the ‘bird hide’, and onto the main boardwalk. After a short introduction talk by myself the traps were turned on by 9:15 and we were ready to go.

Setting up a Skinner trap
Introduction talk




It wasn’t long before the first moth, a Common Carpet was brought to the table, this was quickly followed by a Devon Carpet and a Small Phoenix, in fact the ‘carpet’ species were very plentiful throughout the evening and when a Broken-barred Carpet was potted it gave us the first of three ‘new site records’. The other two ‘new site records’ were; Small Seraphim and Neofaculta ericetella.

Small Seraphim
As the evening progressed species were coming in thick and fast, these included the Iron Prominent, Great Prominent and Lesser Swallow Prominent. Crowd pleasers are always welcome and a pristine Pale Tussock and a beautiful Campion with its violet markings on its wings were potted and admired.

Micro species were generally thin on the ground and only five species were
Square Spot
recorded, the best being the Neofaculta ericetella, but a rather nice pale form of Elophila nymphaeata Brown China-mark was also recorded

No migrant species were recorded. To see a full species list, please click here.

A cool breeze picked up late in the evening which slowed things down considerably, so, just after midnight we decided to call it a night. However, as is

Neofaculta ericetella
often the case, as we were dismantling the traps a few more species were added to the evening’s list, these included a Common White Wave, Narrow-winged Pug and in the very last trap a fabulous Peach Blossom

Narrow-winged Pug

Many thanks to all those who helped me set up and take down the kit and for those who collected moths throughout the evening, also to the Cors Dyfi staff for use of their facilities and, finally, to those members of the general public for coming to the event – I’m sure that a good time was had by all.

Peter.

Thursday 19 May 2016

Mothing event at Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve 21st May



Hello Moth-ers,

This Saturday the MMG (Montgomeryshire Moth Group) are holding a joint mothing event with the MWT (Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust at Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve (The Osprey Centre) in the far west of the county. Hopefully, as in the past, this particular event will provide us with a good species list and who knows, something special may well turn up. So please come and join us, for what we hope will be, an excellent evening’s mothing.

Full event details are:-

Venue: Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve.
Target Species: Late spring species.
Event Date: Saturday 21 May 2016.
Event time: 8:30 onwards, at the trapping site.
Directions: at reserve car park. Directions: The reserve is found on the right-hand side, 4 miles south west of Machynlleth on the A487.  
Grid Reference: SN704984

Montgomeryshire Moth Group (MMG) is an independent voluntary group of people interested in moths. All ages are welcome to attend events whether experts or beginners.

This year all the events are light trapping events. We set up the light traps at dusk to attract moths and then release them after identification.

As with all our evening events, please bring a torch and wear suitable outdoor clothing.

You are welcome to join us for as much of the evening that suits you, we are likely to stay for several hours. However, in case of cancellation, due to poor weather or unforeseen circumstances, always ring or e-mail to check the event is on before joining us.

Please note that some sites are not easy to find, so please make sure you know where the venue is before you set off.

Peter.

Wednesday 18 May 2016

2015 Montgomeryshire Annual Report



Hello Moth-ers,

Just a quick note to let you all know that my 2015 Annual Report can now be viewed in the ‘Articles & Reports’ area of the website. Please click here

All the best,

Peter.