Mothing event at the Bro Dyfi Community Garden

This was the first time that we had organised a mothing event at the Bro Dyfi Community Garden in Machynlleth. Unfortunately, the evening was rather wet which does tend to put people off from attending; however, 15 people did brave the conditions for what turned out to be an excellent evening of mothing. As far as the weather was concerned we had heavy showers interspersed with drizzle throughout, but it was very mild and humid which were good conditions for active moths.

People turning up for the event

Skinner trap under an Oak tree

On this occasion the Bro Dyfi volunteer gardening group had arranged for a reporter from the Cambrian News to take a few pictures of the event, so there was quite a bit of photographic activity before the trapping began.

Heath trap near the water feature

 With gloomy conditions, due to the rain, the lights were switched on early and by 9:00pm moths were already being potted and brought to the table.

Recording the species

First up were the very common species of Large Yellow Underwing and a Lesser Yellow Underwing. Soon, a lovely Swallow-tailed Moth was potted, a beautiful species, especially to those who hadn’t seen one before. A cracking Peppered Moth led us all into debate on how this is an ‘indicator species’ as to the cleanliness of

Head shot of a Large Elephant Hawk-moth

our air quality (the darker the moth, the more pollutants are in the air). Late on in the evening a couple of stunning Large Elephant Hawk-moths came to the traps, but as is often the case with hawk moths, who are usually a late flying species, about half the people attending missed  them as they had left the event by then.

Small Magpie anania hortulata

16 species of micro moth were recorded; these included a stunningly marked Prays fraxinella and the seldom recorded Large Tabby Aglossa pinguinalis.

Silver Y

We also recorded two migrant species, the Silver Y and the Diamond-back Moth Plutella xylostella– both these species would have been carried to the UK during recent spells of southerly winds from the near continent.

  

Wood Carpet

In all 54 species were recorded – the best being the Wood Carpet, a local species; a Cloaked Minor, a species which hasn’t been recorded on the western side of Montgomeryshire before and the best record of the night, a Large Tabby

Aglossa pinguialis

Aglossa pinguinalis which has only been recorded in Montgomeryshire on three previous occasion, all previously on the eastern side of the county. For a full species list please click here.

In all, (despite the weather), it was an excellent evening’s moth trapping, everybody enjoyed themselves and we finally decided to call it a night at 1:00am. We will certainly return to these community gardens again to hold another event.

Peter.

Bro Dyfi Gardens - public mothing event

Hello Everyone,

This Saturday the MMG (Montgomeryshire Moth Group) is holding a public mothing event at Bro Dyfi Gardens, Machynlleth. This is the first time that we have held an event at this site, so who knows what we might trap. So please come along and join us for what promises to be a terrific evening’s mothing at this lovely natural garden site.

Full event details are:-

Venue: Bro Dyfi Gardens

Event Date: Saturday 9th July

Event Time: 8:30 onwards, at the car park.

Directions: From the clock tower in the town take the A487 towards Aberystwyth. About 300 yds along the road do a sharp left hand turn back on yourself into the Y Plas and find the parking area directly on the left hand side. The trapping area will be signposted from here.

Grid Reference: SH746004

Peter.

Dolforwyn Woods 'Moth Night' event

Erecting the white sheet with the
help of Al - a visiting 'new moth-er'
from New Zealand

A view along the track

Setting up base camp

This event was held on Butterfly Conservations’ “Moth Night”, which this year had the theme of  “Hawk-moths”. The rain fell steadily throughout the day but cleared in the evening, so we were optimistic that we might catch one or two Hawk-moth species. The event was also in conjunction with Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, who where as usual represented by Tammy, who brought along a plethora of electronic devices for detecting bats. As the light faded Tammy led the 10 attendees on a walk through the woods listening for bat calls. Common and Soprano Pipistrelle bats were both recorded.

Blomer's Rivulet

Lime Hawk-moth

A total of 4 moth traps were used, with a 125W MV lamp and white sheet at ‘base camp’, 2 125W MV Skinners along the main track, and a 9W Actinic Heath trap at the top end of the track. The traps were switched on at 9.15pm, and it wasn’t long before the first moths arrived. Among the early visitors to the traps were a Map-winged Swift, a new species for this site, and then the first Hawk-moth of the evening, a Lime Hawk-moth.

Green Arches

'Lights on' for the white sheet

Ghost Moth

With a minimum temperature of 14C the moths were plentiful. Peter was kept very busy identifying the moths as they were returned to base, and at one stage we were nearly out of empty pots. Highlights were Blomer’s Rivulet, a nicely marked Beautiful Snout, and then the second Hawk-moth of the evening, Elephant Hawk-moth.

Clouded Magpie

The only migrant moth recorded was Plutella xylostella, the Diamond-back Moth, which has made the news recently as higher numbers than normal have arrived from the continent. As their food plant is brassicas this has led to sensational headlines about devastation of the cabbage crop. Only 3 were recorded during the evening, so I don’t think we need to be too concerned for the Abermule area harvest.

Ingrailed Clay

Around 1am the moth activity was starting to diminish, and we began to pack up. Last checks of the traps produced a few more species to add to the list, including Clouded Magpie and Little Emerald, a scarce species for the County, and the first time it has been found at Dolforwyn. 

Beautiful Snout

The Heath trap was left overnight on site. Heavy rain fell in the early hours resulting in a very soggy mush of egg boxes in the trap the next morning. Despite this a Poplar Hawk Moth and a Dagger had taken refuge in there, bringing the number of Hawk-moth species to 3, and the total number of species for the night to 54, of which 10 were new species for the site. A full list of species can be found here.

Paul

'Moth Night' event at Dolforwyn Woods Nature Reserve

Hello Everyone,

This Saturday the MMG (Montgomeryshire Moth Group) and the MWT are holding a joint ‘mothing and bat evening event at Dolforwyn Woods Nature Reserve, just north of Newtown. The event is also being held on Butterfly Conservation’s ‘Moth Night’ weekend and this year the theme is ‘Hawk-moths, and hopefully the current mild weather will continue we will record a species of these splendid moths. So please come along and join us for what promises to be a terrific evening’s mothing at this superb woodland site.

Full event details are:-

Venue: Dolforwyn Woods Nature Reserve

Event Date: Saturday 11th June

Target Species: Hawk-moths

Event Time: 8:30 onwards, at the reserve car park.

Directions: Going north on the A483 from Newtown to Welshpool you will see two signposts for Abermule on the right hand side of the road. Directly after the second signpost take the first left turn, signposted for Dolforwyn Castle. Dolforwyn Hotel is visible as you turn up this lane. Go straight on and follow the lane as it curves right for about 300yds. The reserve track is on the right. Follow the track for about 400yds until you reach a parking area.

Grid Reference: SO158956

All the best

Peter.

Cors Dyfi - event report

On the Saturday morning of the Cors Dyfi event it was very wet and I’m sure everyone who was thinking of attending must have been wondering how the day would pan out, but, thankfully, it dried up in the afternoon leaving the weather fine and dry for the rest of the day.

I arrived on site by 7:30pm and with the aid of Julie, Mark and Clare we set up eight traps around the car park area, below the ‘bird hide’, and onto the main boardwalk. After a short introduction talk by myself the traps were turned on by 9:15 and we were ready to go.

Setting up a Skinner trap

Introduction talk

It wasn’t long before the first moth, a Common Carpet was brought to the table, this was quickly followed by a Devon Carpet and a Small Phoenix, in fact the ‘carpet’ species were very plentiful throughout the evening and when a Broken-barred Carpet was potted it gave us the first of three ‘new site records’. The other two ‘new site records’ were; Small Seraphim and Neofaculta ericetella.

Small Seraphim

As the evening progressed species were coming in thick and fast, these included the Iron Prominent, Great Prominent and Lesser Swallow Prominent. Crowd pleasers are always welcome and a pristine Pale Tussock and a beautiful Campion with its violet markings on its wings were potted and admired.

Micro species were generally thin on the ground and only five species were

Square Spot

recorded, the best being the Neofaculta ericetella, but a rather nice pale form of Elophila nymphaeata Brown China-mark was also recorded

No migrant species were recorded. To see a full species list, please click here.

A cool breeze picked up late in the evening which slowed things down considerably, so, just after midnight we decided to call it a night. However, as is

Neofaculta ericetella

often the case, as we were dismantling the traps a few more species were added to the evening’s list, these included a Common White Wave, Narrow-winged Pug and in the very last trap a fabulous Peach Blossom

Narrow-winged Pug

Many thanks to all those who helped me set up and take down the kit and for those who collected moths throughout the evening, also to the Cors Dyfi staff for use of their facilities and, finally, to those members of the general public for coming to the event – I’m sure that a good time was had by all.

Peter.

Mothing event at Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve 21st May

Hello Moth-ers,

This Saturday the MMG (Montgomeryshire Moth Group) are holding a joint mothing event with the MWT (Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust at Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve (The Osprey Centre) in the far west of the county. Hopefully, as in the past, this particular event will provide us with a good species list and who knows, something special may well turn up. So please come and join us, for what we hope will be, an excellent evening’s mothing.

Full event details are:-

Venue: Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve.

Target Species: Late spring species.

Event Date: Saturday 21 May 2016.

Event time: 8:30 onwards, at the trapping site.

Directions: at reserve car park. Directions: The reserve is found on the right-hand side, 4 miles south west of Machynlleth on the A487.  

Grid Reference: SN704984

Montgomeryshire Moth Group (MMG) is an independent voluntary group of people interested in moths. All ages are welcome to attend events whether experts or beginners.

This year all the events are light trapping events. We set up the light traps at dusk to attract moths and then release them after identification.

As with all our evening events, please bring a torch and wear suitable outdoor clothing.

You are welcome to join us for as much of the evening that suits you, we are likely to stay for several hours. However, in case of cancellation, due to poor weather or unforeseen circumstances, always ring or e-mail to check the event is on before joining us.

Please note that some sites are not easy to find, so please make sure you know where the venue is before you set off.

Peter.

2015 Montgomeryshire Annual Report

Hello Moth-ers,

Just a quick note to let you all know that my 2015 Annual Report can now be viewed in the ‘Articles & Reports’ area of the website. Please click here

All the best,

Peter.

Coed Pendugwm public event

Another species for id

As we approached the weekend I could see that it was going to be a ‘toss of a coin’ as to what the very changeable weather would be. On the day, the skies cleared, the breeze subsided and the temperature dropped to below zero – not too favourable for a mothing event, but, as always, we mobilised ourselves and took up the challenge.

Julie, Gavin & Sue at the table

I arrived ‘on site’ about 6:30 pm which gave me plenty of time to get set up. Then it was just a case of waiting for others to turn up. It was a lovely sunny evening and, as I sat quietly having a sandwich, my time was shared with a rabbit which came to nibble on the grass, quite close by, enticing me into ‘Alice in wonderland’ mode. I wondered whether he had come for the event, but before I could go any deeper into these thoughts people began arrive bringing me back to reality and the rabbit ran off (no, I didn’t follow it!) – and that was that!

By about 8:15 the lights were switched on and, despite the cool conditions, it wasn’t too long before the first moth a Hebrew Character came to the white sheet. However, moths were generally thin on the ground and they came to the table very slowly throughout the evening. The intrepid species which did make a show were; Twin-spotted Quaker, Common Quaker, Small Quaker, Early Grey and March Moth.

Julie & Mark doing some id work

A potted Early Grey

On an aside, Sue had brought along a plume moth which she had recorded at her home site, but was having a bit of difficulty ‘nailing down’ its id, mainly because of the excessively long modified scales on the trailing edge of the forewing, so, we all got our heads together and did a ‘plume moth workshop’. After some deliberation the id was made, it was the common, but very variable, Emmelina monodactyla. The uneven length of the spurs nearest to the body on the hind leg was the diagnostic feature which gave away its id.

 

Checking the trap

A potted Twin-spotted Quaker

By 11:30 the eight of us who turned up were all suitably chilled so we decided to call it a night. As we were checking the traps for the last time we discovered a Clouded Drab, and finally, the best species of the night, the rather uncommon and local White-marked which was a new species for the site.

Paul - nailing that id

No migrant species were recorded at the event. To see the full species list please click here.

Many thanks to all those who came to the event, especially to Sue who brought along some rather scrummy, home made biscuits, which we devoured in quick time!

Peter.

Public mothing event at Coed Pendugwm Nature Reserve saturday 9 April

Hello Everyone,

This Saturday the MMG (Montgomeryshire Moth Group) is holding a public mothing event at Coed Pendugwm Nature Reserve, just south of Llanfyllin. This particular reserve has been very under-recorded in the past, but we are hoping for all those early spring species to turn up and perhaps one or two more unusual species, who knows! So please come along and join us for what promises to be an excellent evening’s mothing at this superb woodland site.

Full event details are:-

Venue: Coed Pendugwm Nature Reserve

Event Date: Saturday 9th April

Target Species: Early Spring species

Event Time: 7:30 onwards, at the reserve car park. (please note that the ‘meet time’ on the MMG website is incorrect)

Directions: from the A458 at Heniarth take the B4389 for approximately half a mile, then on the left take the B4382 for about a mile and a half, where you will turn right towards Pont Robert. Coed Pendugwm is on a minor road a mile north of Pontrobert towards Llanfihangel; follow the brown signs from Pontrobert. Park in the reserve car park down the short track opposite Pendugwm Farm.

Grid Reference: SJ103143.

Montgomeryshire Moth Group (MMG) is an independent voluntary group of people interested in moths. All ages are welcome to attend events whether experts or beginners.

This year all the events are light trapping events. We set up the light traps at dusk to attract moths and then release them after identification.

As with all our evening events, please bring a torch and wear suitable outdoor clothing.

You are welcome to join us for as much of the evening that suits you, we are likely to stay for several hours. However, in case of cancellation, due to poor weather or unforeseen circumstances, always ring or e-mail to check the event is on before joining us.

Peter.

Details of the Coed Y Dinas Mothing Event

Our first event of our 2016 mothing programme took place at Coed Y Dinas Nature on Saturday 19 March. This was quite an early event, so I don’t think any of us who turned up were expecting too much from the evening. The weather conditions were calm, but fairly cool, so we were rather expecting a fairly small species list and this indeed proved to be the case.

An arial view of the site

7 of us turned up for the event, which is quite good for this early event and between us we brought 12 various types of traps, so the site was definitely ‘well lit up’ for the evening, Chris also tried some sugaring, but on this occasion this proved to be ineffective.

The white sheet devoid of any moths!

The lights were switched on at about 6:45 and the first species to come to the table was an Agonopterix heracliana, this was followed be a Clouded Drab and a Common Quaker, the latter probably being the most common species of the night. Other spring species that turned up throughout the evening were; Small Quaker, Hebrew Character, and Red Chestnut. The only geometrid species to brave the cool elements was a lone Shoulder Stripe. Only one other Micro species to make a show was a solitary Diurnea fagella. In all, only eight species were recorded and in general are all fairly common throughout the county, although as this particular nature reserve is rather under-recorded, all the species proved to be new for the site, so we’ll get a few more dots on the maps for our efforts.

To see the full species list, please click here.

By 10:30pm things had gone from ‘quiet’ to ‘very quiet’, so we all decided to call it a night and the ‘plugs were pulled’.

Peter.