I’m coming out… as a…

… moth-er.

In other words I have a moth trap and I am now gradually becoming addicted to moth trapping. How can one resist when there is the possibility of catching moths like the one above – what a corker! Well, that is the type of thing that birders say about the drabbest of Phylloscopus warblers so I thought I’d say it about the well-named Early Moth which comes out early in the year (Jan-Mar) and this one was my only capture Sun/Mon night (and my first moth of 2024).

But this is the type of moth that lights up a morning – the well-named Merveille du Jour which I had never seen until last October.

9 October produced two of these stunning moths, 10 October another two (or the same ones again?) and 11 October a single.

I am very very much a learner so any tips will be gratefully received. I have a reason for wanting to identify moths but I’ll keep that to myself for a while. Let’s just pretend I am the type of bloke who loves to keep lists of things and I was bound to alight on moths eventually (that might be partly true – but not the whole story honest!).

It’s fun to start as a beginner in an area of natural history – lots to learn, lots of mistakes to be made, lots of fun to be had. At this stage every night of trapping (I’m only going to average about once a week through the year) might well produce a lifer!  And I have to say that the few fellow moth trappers I have met locally have been very welcoming.

[registration_form]