I’ve been missing from the local scene for a week. A family holiday in the Lake District (Duddon Valley) was a good opportunity to take a couple of traps and see what was about nearby. The cottage we rented was surrounded by acid grassland and good size upland broadleaf woodland with the surrounding fells rising to 570 meters. With all the land and woodland belonging to the estate, there was no problem running the traps from the house for as far as the cables would reach.
The weather was good and I had the traps out every evening till about 12.30, on some nights leaving the actinic out all night. Total species for the week was 95, not great when we can get over 100 in an evening in early June in Suffolk, but this includes several species we don’t get down here. In fact I recorded 9 species new to me – Chimney Sweeper, Speckled Yellow (both netted), Lunar Thorn, Satin Lutestring, Striped Twin-spot Carpet, Coronet, Saxon, Light Knot Grass, Incurvaria oehlmanniella & Capua vulgana. Several others I don’t see very often included Broom Moth and Clouded Magpie both in abundance. Midges were a problem, but the more the midges the more the moths!
So a very rewarding trip for me and not too much hassle from the family because of time spent doing ID’s and photos!
Back to the local patch with Keith tonight.
Brian