The traps went on at 8pm and a lot of the moth action came from the lighted sheet. The first moth of the evening from the sheet was a Water Carpet. In all 19 species were trapped, which was higher than anticipated, including 2 micro species. The highlight for those of us not at the last trapping was a Tissue, which comes out of hibernation in April/May. There were many of the usual suspects coming to the end of their season, including Common Quaker, Clouded Drab, Twin-spotted Quaker & Hebrew Character, and some of the emerging Spring species like Early Thorn and Early Grey. The full species list can be read here.
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| Tissue |
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| Early Grey |
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Early Thorn
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| Members of the group enjoying a warming cuppa in Steve's weaving shed |
Some people brought their own moths in case there wasn’t enough action on the night. Paul presented Peter with a bag of Owl pellets. He had previously had Monopsis laevigella emerge from the pellets but on the night it was a White-shouldered House Moth that put in an appearance.
Many thanks for the splendid hospitality from Steve & Lisette, who let us shelter in their very comfortable shed, including a wood burner, and fed us very welcome sandwiches & sausage rolls towards the end of the night. Washed down with lashings of tea or Bullace gin, and followed by Sue's legendary shortbread. No wonder we didn’t venture out to the traps very often! As the night got colder (minimum 4C) & clearer there were less moths around and the evening drew to a close at midnight.
It was a good evening all round for our first ever visit to Lower View.
ReplyDeleteYes, and I must say, when Paul presented me with a brown paper bag, containing, I didn't know what, in slightly gloomy light, I was a bit perplexed at first, but once I saw the Monopsis and the White-shouldered house moth, the penny eventually dropped.
Peter.