Remember all those stories you got told as a child about all the scary things that come out at night? Here’s one about the amazing things that come out at night instead. On Wednesday a small group of us at the reserve went for an evening walk along the Powderham Marshes Trail. Armed with bat detectors, we set off as light was beginning to fade. As we got near the viewing platform end of the trail some one called “there’s a bat” so we turned on our detectors and tuned into its frequency. There was an erratic pipping like the drips of a tap over a tin bath. The bat circled and soon disappeared out of range. For those who don’t know, bat detectors pick up the high frequency calls that bats emit as a kind of radar they use to effectively see where they are going and to catch there food. With a couple of false alarms when the detector picked up the crickets or someones keys there was still hope on finding more bats. So we walked on and came to another point where we picked up a bat which kept circling a tree. This time at a different frequency the bat sounded more like someone tapping then running a wooden spoon along an old washing board. With the moonlight and sparkles of streetlights from Exeter and Topsham, the setting was magical. Crisp, clean, summer air and wildlife playing their tunes, I could have stayed there for hours.
Before we set off for our walk, we assembled a moth trap and by the time we came back it was already looking promising. All kinds of bright and colourful moths were homing in to our light. The following morning I woke filled with excitement to get back to the trap and see our treasure haul. We switched the light off and looked at what we caught. Moths where overflowing from the box. Like a treasure chest filled with gems there was an array of gold, ruby, emerald, silver and more. A total of 29 species of macro moths (the bigger ones) were present with up to 20 of some species. There was also a giant beetle, parasitic wasps and some caddis flies which came in too. It was just so amazing to see these beautiful creatures which are normally hidden from us by the night.
Spot the odd one out! This Ruby Tiger was giving us a hand looking him up!
Work in progress. Please be aware that Bowling Green hide is still closed but the builders are making great progress to finishing a fantastic new hide.