The past weekend was the RSPB's national Big Wild Sleepout event and here at Lakenheath Fen we packed a lot into the two days! Camping took place not just on Friday night but Saturday night too, with a day full of activities on Saturday and on Sunday morning as well. The aim of the weekend, as well as being lots of fun, was to be a 'Bioblitz' style event which means recording every species seen. The hope was that we would discover a new species or two - did we succeed?........you'd better read on!
Photo credit: Dave Rogers - campers in amongst the new plant beds
Over the weekend the campers got involved in dawn and dusk walks, had campfires and took part in sessions focusing on dragonflies, bug-hunting and moth trapping. What a great way to get people thinking about our wondrous invertebrates, in readiness for National Insect Week. On Saturday a potential new species was recorded for the reserve - a willow emerald damselfly! A photo was taken of the individual which has been sent to a local recorder and we are just awaiting final confirmation as to whether it is an emerald or a willow emerald, once it's been given no doubt the photo will appear on our blog and/or Facebook page. How exciting! Aside from this excellent discovery, after speaking to campers on the Sunday morning it was clear that the highlights had undoubtedly been toasting marshmallows on the fire and inspecting the contents of the moth traps. One young lady in particular became absolutely fascinated with the moths and couldn't be parted from them:
Photo credit: Dave Rogers - Susie and her new pal the poplar hawk-moth
And speaking of moths, this leads us nicely on to the very, very excited warden. Katherine was practically bouncing off the walls when she took a peek in the moth trap early Sunday morning, before the campers joined her to peruse the catch. She had managed to catch, for the first time ever at Lakenheath Fen, an adult goat moth. We knew they were here as we have spotted the larva before but this is the first time a moth has been enticed into one of our traps. I came in on Sunday morning to help with breakfast for the campers and Katherine could barely contain her excitement, she was keeping it a secret until the official revealing of the moths after breakfast. Goat moths (one of Britain's heaviest moths) are so named because their caterpillars have a strong 'goaty' smell. Much to everyone's disappointment the moth itself was odourless! Here is one of Katherine's photos:
Photo credit: Katherine Puttick - Goat moth
By midday Sunday, Katherine and David had gone home to try and catch up on some well-earned sleep. The event this year was a great success and we've already received some lovely emails and feedback from our happy campers, who can't wait to join us again next year. The good news is that for those who simply can't wait a whole year, we have another camp out coming up on Friday 12 July. The focus of this camp will be our wonderful moths, who were definitely a star attraction of the Big Wild Sleepout. So if you want to join us for a night (and morning) of marvellous moth moments, take a look at our event details here.
In other news, we held another bittern survey last Thursday and although we haven't officially confirmed more nests there were definitely hopeful signs of more activity, which we'll be following up tomorrow. Tomorrow morning is looking pretty good weather-wise, unlike the following days which are bringing the rain. It must be time for Glastonbury....don't forget to pack your wellies Dave!
Thanks Clare, I'll pass on your appreciation of the photo to Dave. It is a great one, and I understand it wasn't the only moth resting on Susie at that moment in time!