Hello Moth-ers,

Happy New year to you all.

Just a reminder that the 2022 January Challenge kicks off on the 1^st. Jan. – so dust those traps off and fire them up.

This challenge can be either fairly easy or really difficult as the number of species on the wing in January is very limited and are influenced by the weather which definitely plays a big part, but the more number of nights trapped also increases your chance of completing a successful challenge. So go on, it’s all a bit of fun in what can be a gloomy month for moths, you never know, you just might complete the challenge. 

But before you start please cast you eyer over these simple rules below, thanks.

1) The Challenge is open to anyone, whether in Montgomeryshire or not.

2) Submitted records must be from one trap only and from a single site. Don’t have a trap – no problem, records other than from a trap e.g. daytime observations, moths to lit windows etc. can also count as long as they're from the same site.

3 Only adult moths count.

What’s require from you – I need: -

1) A list of species recorded throughout the month.

2) Total count for each species you’ve recorded.

3) Total number of nights you trapped on.

 Objectives.

The objective of the challenge is to record 10 macro species throughout January and if you would like to spice things up a little you can also try to record 5 micro species as well, which is far more difficult.

Another benefit of the challenge is that your county recorder will get a decent amount of winter records in what is usually a very under- recorded time of the year – so this is a win win scenario for all.

When to send your data.

If you like to be interactive with other recorders you can send me your data at weekly points throughout the month (when I ask for it) or you can send me all your data at the end of the challenge. Final results and weekly updates can be viewed on our Facebook page and our website blog.

Here is a link to our Facebook page so you can see what it’s like:- www.facebook.com/groups/montymoths?sorting_setting=CHRONOLOGICAL

Good luck.

Peter.