August's moth night was held on the 20th of August at the Camp Plas Campsite in Dolanog. It was a joint event with Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, and was a rather busy night, with around 50 people in attendance including moth group members and general public. The site was comprised of several fields, including an area of longer grasses and a field bordered by a river and several hedgerows, meaning a varied range of habitats were available for different moth species.
After a barbeque we all enjoyed a wonderful talk on bats by Tammy from the Wildlife Trust, followed by a walk around the site with bat detectors. The 'bat hotspots' were next to the barn (with bats possibly catching moths and other bugs attracted to the light!) and down by the on-site river. Common and Soprano Pippistrelle were identified, as well as Daubenton's bats (of which we had a wonderful sighting as they swooped over the water) and Myotis species.
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| Centre Barred Sallow |
Six moth traps were switched on for the event, as well as a mercury vapour bulb shining on a white sheet. Despite the night having begun with fairly dry conditions, the weather worsened later on and we had some heavy rain showers- leading to a few technical difficulties as the power flickered on and off! This led to a rather early finish at 11.15pm. Nevertheless, we record 29 moth species, comprising 5 micro-moth species and 24 macro-moth species- not too bad considering the weather!
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| Small Wainscot, with a pound coin for size reference! |
It was fantastic as always to see these species identified by the group experts and learn more about them and their identifying features.
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| Bulrush Wainscot |
One particularly exciting moth for the night was this Bulrush Wainscot, a rare 'C' grade species in Montgomeryshire with only 48 records so far. This was the only rare moth for the night, though we recorded some very attractive species, including Lesser Swallow Prominent and Dusky Thorn.
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| Lesser Swallow Prominent |
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| Dusky Thorn |
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| Black Arches |
For a full list of the species recorded, please follow the link below:
Thank you to all the organisers of the event for a wonderful (if wet) night of moth catching! The next event will be held on Saturday the 24th of September at White Gate Pool nature reserve in Montgomery, starting at 8pm.
Well done Daisy on doing your first event report, which is very good indeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review Daisy. This was my local event but unfortunately I was unable to attend.
ReplyDeleteA very public event indeed! I am confident it had nothing to do with the BBQ (any budding chefs in the group?)😊 Sounds like the moth species list could have been quite extensive had the weather not turned. Looking forward to the Montgomery event.
Thanks Daisy, it has brought it all back! The burgers were a definite win, and it was lovely to introduce so many people to the moths. And sorry to Phil again about the bulb... Good luck at the next event on Saturday night.
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