I decided to make the most of the continued nice weather and venture out, albeit not to far from home as staying out till 0130/0200 in the morning and then working starts to catch up with you. The location as mentioned in the title was the Birdwatchers Car Park in Forge Valley. It's a super simple location to set up at with ample space to park and locate the moth trap, surrounded by woodland and the River Derwent flows in the valley below. There is no light pollution from any surrounding houses or streetlights and the only real disturbance is from the occasional car passing - probably all wondering what I was trying to summon, stood solo, net in hand and baked in the glow of the bulb!
The session was from 2200-0130, running my 125W MV Robinson trap which despite drawing in plenty of moths - it soon became apparent that this was also going to cause some issues towards the end of the session - but a handy learning curve none the less.
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| 125W Mercury Vapour Robinson Moth Trap |
By the time I had finished setting up and the trap was turned on it wasn't very long before darkness came and the moths started to arrive...quickly and lots of them! Normally, there is a steady flow of moths and recently I have been recording with friends so there has been 3 of us to try and catch any moths that are about. Within the first 30-45 minutes it became obvious that tonight would be a bit of a struggle and it didn't take long to be overwhelmed with the number of moths flying about and also my inability to actually keep on top of catching/potting them up. I decided at this stage that I was fighting a losing battle and to just let the trap do it's thing - wait a couple of hours and then see what I had at the end. This in turn brought another issue in that when I came to load it back up into the car - this type of trap can't be sealed up (or at least very easily) so I had to try and empty it there and then. I proceeded to lose most of the moths in the trap, several thought inside my ears would be a good place to hide and combined with the copious amounts of flies I was trying not to ingest - in the words of James May - "Oh Cock".
However, I digress - moths were brought home for identification and although only 45 moths from 27 species were potted up, those that were - at least for me, offered some interesting species - so let's have a look!
First up we have the Red-Necked Footman (Atolmis rubricollis) - Size: 15-18mm Forewing This is a species that is new for me. Although I didn't know what it was called at the time, even in the field one would be able to make a pretty good guess at it's name given the classic Footman sp. shape combined with well...its red neck!
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| Red-Necked Footman |
The 2nd new moth for me was Blomer's Rivulet (Venusia blomeri) - Size: 10-13mm Forewing. This is a very local resident within Yorkshire having not been seen in VC61 since 1904, only twice in VC65 and never in VC63!
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| Blomer's Rivulet |
The 3rd moth in todays blog was also a new one for me in the shape of Small Yellow Wave (Hydrelia flammeolaria) - Size: 9-11mm forewing. This stunning little yellow moth definitely stands out against the rest with its bold colours and patterns.
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| Small Yellow Wave |
The fourth and final new moth for me was Clouded Magpie (Abraxas sylvata) -Size:18-22mm Forewing. This probably took the crown as "Moth of the Night" as well, with its bold white wings and blotchy patterns. It is currently described as a Scarce & local resident within Yorkshire.
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| Clouded Magpie |
This moth was much more prevalent across the county up until about the late 1960s when the more severe and aggressive strain of Dutch Elm Disease was accidently introduced to the UK and has now disappeared from many of its previous stable locations with VC62 being the main area to find it. Larval food sources will come as no surprise based off this information with Wych Elm & English Elm being the preferred choice. Total records stand at 351 with 480 specimens, so again being able to find one is a healthy record as only 8 specimens were recorded in 2024 across the whole of Yorkshire!
In conclusion it can just show how even the most infuriating nights can reward you with some fantastic records and stunning moths to look at. All 4 of these moths are very localised or on the decline so to be able to find them and contribute towards the data is the real key victory here. I will provide a list of all the moths recorded below:
Beautiful Golden Y 1
Bird Cherry Ermine 1
Blomer's Rivulet 3
Brimstone 2
Buff Ermine 2
Chrysoteuchia culmella 1
Clouded Magpie 1
Clouded Silver 1
Common Lutestring 1
Common Marbled Carpet 1
Common Swift 1
Double Square-Spot 1
Green Carpet 1
Light Emerald 5
Mottled Beauty 1
Peach Blossom 4
Pebble Hook-Tip 1
Peppered Moth 2
Red-Necked Footman 2
Riband Wave 1
Scoparia ambigualis 1
Small Angle Shades 2
Small Yellow Wave 2
Snout 1
Spectacle 1
Udea olivalis 1
White Ermine 4
If you have made it this far, thank you once again for taking the time out of your day to have a read - any suggestions on format etc are greatly appreciated.
Thanks must be added to the following organisations/websites where some of this data has been extracted:
All of the moth recorders, County Recorders, Vice County Co-ordinators and website admins who make all of this data - make sense!
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