Following last years effort to record as many species as possible for the year on the patch, 2008 will be much quieter. We will still be out trapping and searching for moths locally but we will target certain species and only trap when the weather conditions are good. We will also try to visit some other areas of habitat and lets hope its a better year for migrants.
The recording area or 'patch' is the 2 towns of Portishead and Clevedon and the countryside and villages nearby. The area covered starts in the north at the River Avon and runs south to the River Yeo. It is bordered on the north west by the Bristol Channel and in the south east by the M5 motorway and falls entirely within Vice County VC6 North Somerset.
The 4 main contributors, Paul Chapman, Howard Taffs, Jason Williams and myself run light traps regularly in our respective gardens and also use portable light traps in likely habitats. We also look for day flying species and use other methods such as artificial pheromones to find the moths that are not attracted to light.
For the regularly updated list click here. For the 2007 records please visit the archive.
1st - A good start to 2008 with 3 moth species recorded already. A December Moth from Paul's garden, several Winter Moth's and a Chestnut in the toilet block at Ladye Bay.
31st - January was rounded off with a Dark Chestnut in the toilet block at Ladye Bay found by Howard.
8th - A visit to Walton Common by Howard and Paul has added the following species to the 2008 yearlist:- March Moth, Mottled Grey, Spring Usher (photo by Howard Taffs) and Small Quaker. In addition to the species the dark forms of Pale Brindled Beauty (f. monacharia) and Dotted Border (f. fuscata) where recorded.
24th - Deploying Paul's new battery/actinic traps recorded a respectable 12 species in Walton Common Woodland. 3 species new for 2008 Twin-spotted Quaker, Engrailed and Dotted Chestnut. Also added a Double-striped Pug from Ladye Bay.
8th - First new species recorded in March a Shoulder Stripe in the toilet block at Ladye Bay.
29th - 2 sites trapped last night, Perfect Bite lakes with 3 MV and 1 actinic trap result no moths and Walton Common Woodland with 2 battery actinics result 50 moths of 12 species. 2 new for the year, Brindled Pug and Satellite.
22nd - At last a new species for April, a Pebble Prominent from Paul's garden.
25th - The first Hawkmoth of this year, a Eyed Hawkmoth from Paul's garden.
26th - Last night Paul set his battery/actinic traps at Walton Common. The result was 47 Macro moths of 18 species with 9 recorded for the first time this year. Streamer, Scorched Carpet, Water Carpet, White-pinion Spotted, White-spotted Pug, Frosted Green, Brindled Beauty, Purple Thorn and Nut-tree Tussock. From Paul's garden trap Swallow Prominent, Puss Moth and Poplar Hawkmoth. Also from Jason's Portishead garden a Cabbage Moth.
3rd - With 5 MV and 3 actinic traps ran overnight on Walton Common its no surprise that a good many species were recorded on the wing for the first time this year. 45 species of Macro moth in all with 21 new for 2008. The new ones are Oak Hook-tip, Mocha, Maidens Blush, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Common Carpet, Small Phoenix, Red-green Carpet, Green Carpet, Lime-speck Pug, Oak-tree Pug, Small White Wave, Brown Silver-line, Waved Umber, Coxcomb Prominent, Lunar Marbled Brown, Ruby Tiger, Least Black Arches,Flame Shoulder, Powdered Quaker, Grey Shoulder-knot, and Knot Grass. Also a Spectacle from Paul's garden.
4th - A Sallow Kitten from Paul's garden and a Pretty Chalk Carpet from Ladye Bay.
5th - A Pine Beauty recorded again from Paul's garden.
12th - Update from the weekend - On Friday night Walton Common visited with 8 MV traps and 2 Actinic traps and despite a deluge and thunderstorm 59 species where recorded with 17 new for the year. On Saturday afternoon good numbers of Cistus Forester where seen flying on Walton Common and on Saturday night the same site provided a further 10 years ticks amongst 68 species.
30th - Walton Common visited with 9 MV and 2 actinic traps. 75 species recorded with 19 new for the year. Highlights being a Green Silver-lines, Light Brocades and a Beautiful Golden Y. 2 Pugs taken to be identified later. 1 of these Pugs is a probable Ochreous Pug and if confirmed will be this years first and only patch tick so far.
4th - Trapping on Walton Common gave us around 90 macro moth species despite the rain before dark and again after dark, highlights were Brown Scallop, Dark Umber and Green Arches.
25th - A dry and warm night on Weston Moor provided between 85 and 90 species. Highlights being Round-winged Muslin, a moth we did not record locally last year and Olive, Double Kidney and Double Lobed, species which this is probably our best local site.
27th - A new species recorded locally with a Small Scallop from Paul's garden.
27th - A species not recorded last year, Saltern Ear from Paul's garden.
29th - Some good weather conditions, so traps run overnight at Blakes Pools. 65 species of Macro moth recorded with the highlight a patch tick of Dark Spinach with 3 specimens trapped. Also of note Centre-barred Sallow and Brown-veined Wainscot.
The final 3 months of the year have been very quite on the 'mothing' front, mainly due to work/family commitments and travelling. However 1 new species has been added to the patch list following a specimen of a small Pug moth taken in August being identified as a Narrow-winged Pug by Mike Bailey.
Recently published the Moths of the Bristol Region contains many photos and records from this website. This book provides a very important historical reference on the status of Moth species in our locality and thanks must go to the authors for the many hours of research and preparation that went into producing this excellent book.
Contact the Webmaster Top of page Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug