Our 4th Annual Moth survey was carried out on Friday the 12th of July and our intrepid band of “Mothers” – doesn’t seem right but say it out loud and it helps – spent 3 hours in a Moth friendly temperatures and cloud covered evening/night with high hopes.

Last years tally of 53 species was the target but sadly only 35 obliged.

Our expert Edward Mills had managed 70 in his Witherslack garden the night before so a slight setback for our merry band. However they did see large numbers of Swallowtail, Pretty chalk carpet and Mottled beauty. Pretty chalk carpet is the local star as it is only found in South England and one or two distinct populations in the north.(It feeds on Old Man’s beard which grows on the edges of our wood.

We were able to add 5 new species to our overall list, including the stunning Polar Hawk moth. In summary we have recorded 112 species and of these only three have been recorded in all four years. (Pretty chalk carpet,Willow beauty and Light emerald. We will try a different time of year so watch out for us in September.

Many thanks to Edward for providing both the equipment and the expertise and Rob Fitter for his able assistance.