10km Square Species Counts

With so little going on at the moment in the mothing world because of this run of chilly nights, I've had time to look back again at 10km square occupancy in Bucks (last mentioned here in October 2021).  The data for 2023 is incomplete so the figures on the map below should be considered as minimums, but it is good to see that the number of squares with 1,000+ species, marked with black circles, has increased by two with another one almost there and three more in the lower 900s.  With in excess of 1,600 species recorded from Bucks we should be able to achieve 1,000 in every 10km square, especially in those which lie entirely (or mostly) within the county.   

The 10km Square SP82 (with its total in red) is still an embarrassment!  This square has the villages of Whitchurch, Mursley, Stoke Hammond and Wing in its four corners and is mostly agricultural desert with only tiny pockets of woodland and almost no other decent habitat for moths, so it isn't a surprise that its total should be lower than those squares which surround it, but I'm sure we can do better!  Its total has moved forward by nearly 100 species since the last review, mostly thanks to some regular trapping accomplished on the edge of Wing last year, and there are plans to visit two other sites in the area on a regular basis in 2024 which might improve things a little more, but the current total is still a very poor count for a square that lies entirely within VC24.  However, it is not all doom and gloom here and things will undoubtedly improve for the area in the future when the Forestry Commission complete the planting of a large community woodland project on Bucks Council land between Wing and the Liscombe Estate to the north (see here).  

Of the other squares, SP94 (shared roughly 50-50 with Bedfordshire) is also particularly poorly served with moth records, almost all of them coming from some trapping done at Moulsoe Old Wood back in 2010.  If anyone feels like visiting this area of Bucks, to the east of the M1 north of Milton Keynes, your records would be very welcome indeed!  

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks