In their wisdom South Essex Marshes RSPB have invited me to write some articles about moths. Hopefully in the future I will keep you informed (and possibly entertained) by letting you know what is being found in my Southend garden moth trap. However, to stop this being too boring I also hope to include some pretty pictures and other moth related stuff. However so far this year not to put too fine a point on it moth trapping like nostalgia - “ain't what it used to be” with numbers well down on last year. Therefore with things hopefully picking up in July and August, the most productive time of year for mothing, I will report on this next issue. Therefore I have taken the opportunity to be indulgent in my first offering by giving you some background into how I became interested in moths and how things went last year (don’t worry there are some pretty pictures!)
I first became interested in moths in September 2010 whilst on a golfing holiday in Northumberland. I woke up one morning to find about twenty identical insects on the veranda of our “luxury” lodge. I had never seen such an insect before, purple of eye and yellow of hue but unfortunately didn’t take a photograph. A couple of weeks later during a particularly dull day at work I surfed the internet to try and find this mystical creature. A couple of days and moth forums later I could firmly identify it as a Canary Shouldered Thorn. However so stuck was I by this moth I decided to investigate moths a little more. Therefore I purchased a cheap Gooden light(a curious £20 purple/green light combination which looks like an oversized eco friendly light bulb) and spent a few nights with it not catching a lot but still enjoying the “thrill of the hunt”. My best capture during this period was a Large Yellow Underwing. I knew it was “something special when I saw the flash of orange coming to the light but thought initially that I had picked up the wrong moth when I had a dullish brown moth in the specimen tub. Only when the moth deigned to open it’s wings could the spectacular colour be seen. Little did I know that this was going to be one of the mainstays of my trappings during 2012.
I did make contact with a couple of “mothers” in my area and I did go on a “professional “trap with them on Canvey Island but whilst I was delighted with the beauty of a “Brimstone” or the quaintness of a “Drinker” this didn’t impress them much! They were too busy ticking off their lists ”train collector” style and mumbling something about” there being no prominents. However on a hot summer night we did collect over 125 species of moth and to my utter delight we did trap a single Canary Shouldered Thorn.
In 2012 I and my Gooden Light joined a group called the Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) after an article I saw in “British Wildlife”. The GMS is, as might be expected, a scheme that records moths in people’s own gardens. Altogether there are about 375 members across the country who record what they find in their traps on weekend nights. By doing so the scheme does provide a very useful gauge on changes in moth populations due the seasonal changes etc but also offer a longer timeline which measures changes in population which may be due to more problematic causes. They also have an active discussion group.
However after 3 weeks of recording the Gooden went to “moth light heaven” and I had to purchase a better mothtrap and opted for a “Skinner” with a 124V mercury vapour bulb which is particularly high in UV light which helps to attract moths. My main reason for choosing this type of trap was purely economic with the alternative “Robinson” trap being three times more expensive at £365.
I have been very surprised by some of the species that have passed through my garden some of them have been the spectacular ones that when I bought my “Concise Guide to Moths” I thought that I would never see.
My first five weeks were blank. Things slowly built up however but on 29 June Bingo! I was visited by two elephant hawk moths. I also quickly chalked up a Poplar Hawk moth and a Privet Hawk moth. However, just as satisfying were my trappings of extraordinary moths such as the Buff Tip, Burnished Brass, Brimstone, Pyruasta Aranta, Heath Lattice, Mother of Pearl and common moths such as Angle Shades and Buff Ermines. In fact everything was very exciting and new and I even had my first prominent! In all 86 species of moth graced my garden with their presence for which I feel truly honoured.
Pyrausta Aurata by Len Britton
Burnished Brass by Len Britton
Elephant Hawk Moth by Len Britton
Buff Ermine by Len Britton
However, it was on 11 August 2012 I had my best ever find. For in amongst the egg boxes was a yellow insect with purple eyes, a Canary Shouldered Thorn, the moth that had started me off on this journey, in my back garden! This was too exciting for words and I felt somehow that I had come full circle.
At the end of 2012 I became the East of England Co-ordinator for the GMS when the previous co-ordinator stepped down. Luckily the office requires no actual expertise in moths - just a determination to get results from the 40 or so local recorders which come under East of England banner (including several with RSPB addresses)and a little knowledge of spreadsheets. However in my own modest way I feel that I have contributed by designing a system which validates records as they are input by recorders which make my task much easier and which I am trialling this year.
“Mothing” has now become a family interest with my wife and mother and mother in law insisting on seeing the catches on Saturday mornings (however as to date no one has actually volunteered to help me put the trap out in inclement weather!). I also trapped during the winter season but with meagre results, this is a quiet time for moths in any case but the particularly bad winter made things even worse. Unfortunately as I hinted earlier this poor performance has continued into the summer recording season but I will fill you in about this next time around.
Len Britton - Garden Moth Scheme Volunteer and RSPB Volunteer