Tuesday 1 April 2014

Always make one last check

My mothing hasnt been a huge success so far this year. There havent been many occasions when I have been able put out my trap, and on some of these there has been torrential rain, or the trap has been blown over, so it wasnt with a great deal of optimism that I put my trap out last night.

The previous night had been an extremely late one so I was feeling very tired. At 10pm I decided that I had to go to bed.  Should I make one last check on the trap? I couldnt be bothered so started plodding up the stairs to bed. I looked out of the window at the top of the stairs and realised I had left the shed light on, so I would have to go back out anyway. I plodded back downstairs, picked up my bag of moth pots and shambled across towards the trap. About 2 mettres from the trap on the grass was a rather manic moth fluttering erratically about. As I got it in the pot I realised it was one I hadnt seen before. I got back inside, put on my glasses and saw this:


Small Eggar, a rarity in the county and by far my best moth so far. From now on I think I will always make one last check.

Paul

4 comments:

  1. What an excellent record this is and without Paul doing this 'last check of the trap' the moth might not have been there in the morning. So that's the cautionary tale to all you moth-ers - always check your trap one last time, before you go to bed!

    Peter.

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  2. Cautionary tale indeed - great news Paul. I'll be having 'last checks' now too! What a beautiful moth it is.

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  3. Really nice one Paul. Maybe the moral of the tale is "Don't bother going to bed - sleep in the shed!"
    Alan

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    Replies
    1. I'm sleeping under gazebe from now on!!

      Peter.

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