birdingexmouth: Mothstalgia

Friday, 20 June 2014

Mothstalgia

Blotched Emerald - Rockbeare 2007

I've been looking back fondly through my old moth photos today. I haven't run my trap for over five years because we're not ideally situated for shining a powerful ultraviolet light in the garden of this house. It's currently on loan to my good friend Martin Wolinski who is getting some great catches. I feel very rusty with regards identifying moths but I'm sure I'll get back into it at some point. It is an utterly absorbing and addictive hobby but time-consuming and certainly not easy to fit in alongside work, family life and birding. The rich variety of moths out there never ceases to amaze me and I would strongly recommend anyone with an interest in wildlife to give it a go - it's fantastic. Below are some of my favorite species. Note the variety of shapes and colours as well as the fantastic names of some species.

Pine Beauty - Rockbeare 2008

Peach Blossom - Rockbeare 2008

Privet Hawkmoth - Rockbeare 2008

Cream-bordered Green Pea - Topsham 2008

Swallow-tailed Moth - Rockbeare 2007

Rosy Footman - Rockbeare 2007

Sprawler - Rockbeare 2006

Merveille du Jour - Rockbeare 2006

Large Wainscot - Topsham 2006 - not sure why but I love the wainscots and I've still got quite a few to see

Cosmopolitan - Rockbeare 2006

Scarce Bordered Straw - Rockbeare 2006

Burnished Brass (f juncta) - Rockbeare 2006

Gold Spot - Rockbeare 2009

Bordered Beauty - Rockbeare 2006

Lappet - Rockbeare 2006 - what a moth!

Scarce Silverlines - Rockbeare 2006

Green Silverlines - Rockbeare 2006

Square-spot Rustic - this is what this species should look like - square and unremarkable kidney marks on each forewing but look at the aberrant specimen below.......

..........complete with gold stars on my daughter's first day at school- surely a good sign!!

Chocolate-tip - Rockbeare 2007

Rosy Rustic - Rockbeare 2006 - a subtle but beautiful species

Oleander Hawkmoth - an incredible moth unlikely to be caught in this country - this one was hand-reared by John Gale

All the moths below were found just by checking lights when we were on camping holidays in the south of France. I used to check the wash blocks first thing in the morning, which got me some funny looks, and some powerful lights that illuminated a little village church on a nearby hillside. I probably recorded in excess of one hundred species this way including some absolute crackers.......