Friday, 29 July 2016

July 28th Mousehold Heath


Moth Night at Mousehold Heath
It was moth night at Mousehold Heath last night. Despite two heavy showers earlier in the evening, it was to be a fine night, though the ground was rather squelchy underfoot. Only seven people (and a dog) turned up, which included Will the warden and myself. It turned out to be a good night for moths as plenty were attracted by the light of the moth trap. Here's some of the highlights...
Square-spot Rustic
True Lover's Knot
Common Footman
Dark Arches
Peppered Moth
Swallow-tailed Moth (missing a hindwing)
Buff Arches
Black Arches
Mother of Pearl
Cream Wave
Large Yellow Underwing
 
Straw Underwing
Large Emerald
Nut-tree Tussock
Some kind of micro moth
Moths under torchlight!

We were doing quite well as the evening turned to midnight, but then the generator that was powering the light of the trap ran out of fuel unexpectedly and it suddenly went dark. We finished off a couple of moths that needed identifying under torchlight before packing up the equipment, released the moths and called it a night.

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