Back in July Montgomeryshire Moth Group held an event at Llanymynech Golf Course. Although I believe the group has trapped in the area before this venue was new to us, and set up with thanks to Simon Spencer & the manager of the golf course. It didn't seem a very promising evening when we arrived, as it was very windy and looking like rain too. However, we found some fairly sheltered spots to put the traps, and Peter got excited about a rocky outcrop so we managed to get a trap there too.
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| Peter hard at work |
Fortunately the group was able to make its headquarters for the night in the driving range shed, which was just as well as it did rain quite a bit through the evening. And a hardy number of moth group members made it out, so it was just a question of whether the moths would too. We set up Phil's new white sheet in the shelter behind the shed - thanks Phil!
And surprisingly the moths came! First in was a micro, Agriphila straminella and the first macro was a Brimstone Moth. Peter got most excited about the Pretty Chalk Carpet, and it was a real beauty.
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| Pretty Chalk Carpet by Meurig Garbutt |
Mark got excited about the Yellow Tail that he thought was a White Satin Moth, but we persuaded him it didn't have the black & white stripey legs. However, right at the end of the evening we did get an actual White Satin Moth, and very smart it was too.
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| White Satin Moth by Phil McGregor (note the stripey legs - the moth, not Phil) |
Confusing moth of the night for me was the Brown-Line Bright-Eye, as I was recording and kept wanting it to be Bright-Line Brown-Eye which we get at home. What were they thinking with those 2 names??
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| Brown-Line Bright-Eye by Meurig Garbutt |
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| Clouded Border by Meurig Garbutt |
In the end we recorded 18 micros and 56 macros, and a good range of moths too. The full list can be found on the website.
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| Lime-Speck Pug by Phil McGregor |
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| Scarce Footman by Meurig Garbutt |
As Julie has mentioned, when we got to the site, the weather conditions really didn't look too promising, but it didn't take too long before we all realised that there were a lot of species on the wing that evening (so how wrong one can be). It was an excellent site with much potential and one I'm sure we'll revisit as some stage.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the write up Julie, it was certainly a memorable night for weather and for moths! Along with the wind and rain it was very, very mild. I was really surprised to see so many moths toughing it out regardless, feeding on the Ragwort in particular. They are very hardy little creatures indeed! There were many moths I have not encountered before.
ReplyDeleteI was very sorry not to be able to attend this event Julie, so it's wonderful to read your excellent report and find out what I missed!
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