An Elephant or a Tiger?

RSPB Mersehead Blog 15^th – 21^st July 2023

Some of our most colourful, beautiful and bizarrely named creatures come out at night while we are all fast asleep. With around 2,500 species of moth recorded in the UK, they outnumber the much-loved butterflies by 43 to 1.

The lure of the moth to the flame has long been a scientific mystery. Being primarily nocturnal it is believed that moths evolved to travel by the glimmer of the moon, a method called transverse orientation. Transverse orientation is the process which enables insects to fly in a straight line by keeping a constant angle relative to a distant light source. Unnatural light can change the angle, causing a moth to spiral towards the source. Moth traps use this theory to temporarily catch these amazing insects using a lightbulb allowing us to see what’s about at night.

Robinson Moth Trap.

To celebrant National Moth Week, pop down to Mersehead on Monday 24^th July to help us check the moth trap from the previous night's catch, we may even find the odd tiger or elephant. Full event details can be found here. This morning's moth survey recorded 111 moths from 34 species including the Garden Tiger and Straw Underwing below.

Garden Tiger

Straw Underwing

Many visitors to Mersehead walk the main Coastal Trail in a loop around the reserve. The Southwick Water cuts its way west through the merse (saltmarsh) and winds out across the sandflats into the estuary towards Sandyhills. This is a beautiful quiet corner of the reserve and worth the extra walk.

Many botanical coastal specialists can be found in this sheltered corner including the regionally scarce Sea Holly, Seaside Centaury and Sea Bindweed. The endemic Isle of Man Cabbage is a bright yellow crucifer easily identified by its distinctive lobed leaves. This plant only grows on the west coast in Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, on the Gower in Wales and in Southern Scotland.

Sea Campion.

Isle of Man Cabbage.

Further out on the merse shades of purple dominant with Common Sea Lavender, Sea Aster and the nationally scarce Lax-flowered Sea Lavender all in flower. Ragged Robin can be seen growing in some of the damper areas. The pair of Raven which nested on the cliffs can often be seen. As the Barn Owl continues to feed it’s growing chicks, the adult hunting is a common sight over the merse in the early morning and throughout the afternoon.

Common Sea-Lavender.

Sea Rocket.

Rowena Chambers, Warden

RSPB Mersehead is running a full and varied Events Program. We are looking for Volunteers who can help with all our Visitor Engagement Activities, from welcoming people on arrival, to leading events and activities. In a nutshell, we are looking for volunteers who can provide a great visitor experience here on the reserve. If you love nature and working with people as much as we do, then we’d like you to join our team! Please get in touch with us here.

 For more information on individual events and to book a place please go to our website: https://events.rspb.org.uk/mersehead

*Holiday Cottages – In the winter, RSPB Mersehead is home to internationally important numbers of wildfowl including the Svalbard Barnacle Geese. Book your Mersehead holiday this winter through the cottage links – Barnacle and Shelduck – located in the heart of reserve.