 |
| Tawny Pinion (upper) & Pale Pinion (lower), 16th October |
Westcott, Bucks
A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
Saturday, 17 October 2015
Moth Magnet
Is no-one else catching anything? 134 moths of 32 species came to the garden actinic here last night and amongst them was the first Tawny Pinion I've seen for five years. Numbers of Brick are now at unprecedented levels (20 in the trap last night, more than any other species).
Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
Westcott, Bucks
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Seems your garden must be in a perfect passage place this year Dave. Moth numbers in the garden here in Didcot have reached the point where I don't really need to bother checking the trap each morning. Left traps out at Bagley last night and they were pretty unspectacular though my first pre-winter Dotted Chestnut was notable. 2015 really is the year of Wilton :)
ReplyDeleteFollowing two great years in a row here I sense that 2016 is going to be a HUGE disappointment!
DeleteI'm getting 2-4 species a night, mostly Green-brindled Crescent and Nov Moth agg, with singles of Common Marbled Carpet, Blair's Shoulder-knot and Large Yellow Underwing since Tuesday. Think my bulb is getting dim, will try with a new one tonight.
ReplyDeleteGood idea, Darren. Bulbs (especially MVs) do seem to lose their pulling power over time so it probably is worthwhile replacing them every few years if they survive that long. I've had an unprecedented three blown MV bulbs this year and all have been Venture Lighting MBFUs. Perhaps that's a manufacturer to try and avoid in future!
DeleteThe bulb I use is a 20w eco lite blacklight E27, i change it every 2 months as it really does start to go dim. If anyone has any advice on other bulbs I could use I would be very grateful. It plugs straight in the mains, no choke etc E27 screw fit. Not sure if I can use mv on the mains ?
DeleteIt's possible to get a "blended" bulb that runs straight from the mains, see towards the bottom of this page from ALS: http://www.angleps.com/electrics.php
DeleteBut do read the warning that ALS provide: blended bulbs run very hot and are prone to shattering if rain gets to them.
I haven't ever used one so don't know how effective they are.
Dave you're clearly in a very favourable spot. Presumably out in the sticks with little competing lighting and plenty of habitat. What type of actinic do you use ? Perhaps you would do even better with a 125w MV. Btw I've never heard of MV bulbs losing power. I don't see why they would as mercury vapour is in a sealed glass envelope. Some of my bulbs are probably 20 years old and if they weren't working properly I would have noticed odd patterns in catches.
DeleteDarren your eco bulb isn't very eco if you have to replace it every 2 months ! I'm not familiar with the model but my advice would be to use something else.
Blended bulbs are fine but as Martin says dangerous in rain as they will explode. I take one abroad screwed on to a piece of wooden batten and improvise a trap when I get there. I have to be careful but I'm usually in the Canary Islands and it doesn't rain much there !
Well, we do have neighbours on three sides but this is a village garden. Westcott has a lot of drawbacks for humans (eg village pub closed down the year we moved here and has since been demolished, there's noise from the adjacent industrial park and nearby A41), but from the moth point of view it seems very favourable with only a small amount of light pollution from street lights. Willow, lime, rowan, norway maple, birch, elm, ash, apple, cherry, hawthorn & blackthorn (plus plenty of ivy) were in the garden when we moved here 15 years ago and I've added hornbeam, alder, sycamore, sallow, spindle & privet. There's a row of black poplars within sight, plenty of nearby unflailed hedgerows, a large area of sallow and blackthorn scrub within a couple of hundred metres and oak woodland about a mile away. So yes, I'm quite happy with the habitat, thankyou, although I could do without all the bats I get round the trap. It could be bettered by moving to the house on the nicely wooded hill-top just east of the village but I don't think Mr Rothschild is thinking of selling any time soon!
DeleteFor garden work I use a twin-30w conversion for the Robinson, purchased circa 2007 from Mr Clifton's ALS. It has proved to be every bit as good as the 125wt MV run previously, certainly as far as species numbers are concerned. The lay-out of the back garden means that I can just about get away with running two traps about 10m apart with a hedge between them. I don't usually bother but I have done it a few times this year. My Silver-striped Hawk arrived on one of those nights and it was found on the conservatory wall beside the actinic...
Ivy helps a lot at this time of year.
DeleteAre these moth magnets available on line?. I think I could do with one too?. 5 in total last night.
ReplyDeleteMy Maidenhead garden did better than I expected with 10 macro species and 1 micro (E. postvittana). Apart from 4 Large yellow Underwing, 2 Setaceous Hebrew Character and 2 Common Marbled Carpet, all the other macros were singletons: Willow Beauty, Grey Pine Carpet, Black Rustic, Barred Sallow, Red-line Quaker, Beaded Chestnut and pride of place to a Merveille du Jour which was my second ever for the garden, the first having been on 17 Oct 1997. There is no Oak close by, so perhaps not surprising that I don't get many.
ReplyDeleteJust 11 individuals of 8 species here in Great Kimble, Bucks, on Thursday night (Garden Moth Scheme trapping). The highlight was that only 1 of them was a Large Yellow Underwing!
ReplyDeleteI've had a much poorer year this year than last - not sure quite what is up. I notice I'm not even seeing many Brown-Spot Pinion which I got alot of the past two seasons. Mind you I did get my very first Merveille du Jour a couple of days back (like others have said it was sitting in the grass) so I can't complain (much).
ReplyDeleteAs a comparison, out west in Herefordshire, I ran the trap on the 15th and got 49 moths of 22 species and last night 48 moths of 15 species. Magnets out here must be weakened by the radon gasses. Merveille du Jour topping at 7 individuals last night, but then there are 2 large Sessile Oaks very close by.
ReplyDelete...and the general habitat around you in back-woods Herefordshire is far superior to built-up Bucks, so maybe there are other factors at play too. 122 moths of 28 species here last night (Sat 17th) so down very slightly, although Brick increased to 25. Another Tawny Pinion was very nice but the only 'new' moth was Depressaria radiella/Parsnip. Before someone asks the question I should perhaps also mention that my garden catches are, without fail, released about a mile away to try and avoid recaptures.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. Anyone been to Westcott will realise it looks nothing out of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteNothing much here in Seer Green, either. Yellow-line Quaker, Black Rustic and Blair's Shoulder-knot have been the most interesting things over the last few weeks, plus a variety of Carpets. A single Chestnut at the Burial Park, and a trio of November Moth aggs. on the windows at work this morning, but that is it.
ReplyDeleteIs 17 comments the record for one post?
ReplyDeleteAndy.
More comments than moths?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid not ... numbers are indeed reducing but last night (Sun 18th), even though it was rather damp, the garden trap here still caught 76 moths of 23 species. There was a vague hint of migratory activity with singletons of Nomophila noctuella and Silver Y, although more likely is that they were left-overs from earlier in the season.
Delete