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.