It’s my first week here on work experience at Fairburn Ings and this morning I had chance to get involved in identifying and catching the moths that are present on the reserve so thought I’d share with you what we found...

The weather at the moment seems to be remaining quite nice around Fairburn, and that has brought with it another huge variety of moths to our moth trap which we put outside every Thursday night near the visitor centre. Although we caught the fairly generic moths, (like the regular brown ones that you might find at home now and again) we also uncovered some that were more exciting and colourful than others.

At the beginning of the morning  we found a variety of different looking moths from small dark ones, to large colourful species. And perhaps the most exciting was the brimstone moth, which is bright yellow in colour, and has chestnut-brown marks on its forewing tip. These moths are quite small in size, but interesting to look at if you’re lucky enough to spot one.

Another very colourful one that we came across was the angle-striped sallow, which is similar in appearance to the brimstone moth, in that they are both yellow, but some could have a more orange look to them. They are also similar in size to the brimstone moth, at 17-20mm long.

Arguably the trickiest moth to identify, (just because it wouldn’t stop moving around!!!) was the sandy carpet. The sandy carpet measures at 11-14mm long with a white and yellowy-orange colour, and appears between June and July, This species of moth flies at night in order to feed, and also to avoid being caught itself in the day time.

We also found a grey dagger, a common white wave, three double square-spots, and a couple of lesser yellow-underwing moths among a wide range of other moths too.

Tonight we will once again be putting the moth trap out in preparation for our photography workshop tomorrow. So if you’re interested in seeing some of these beautiful moths, come to the visitor centre between 10 and 11 in the morning and join us!