Over recent nights, the active moth trappers in Northumberland have been catching large numbers of Diamond-back Moths. One site in Tynemouth produced nearly 1000 on Sunday night but, with long days in the field with clients, I haven’t been running our trap as regularly as I would like (and not as often as our assistant County Recorder would like either!). Last night we we driving back from giving a slide-show in Alnmouth, and there was an almost continuous cloud of moths in the beam from the car headlights. So, as soon as we were back home, out went the trap. First thing this morning I went out into the garden and there were Diamond-backs everywhere. With a heavily vegetated wildlife garden it was impossible to count them all (and at less than 1cm in length, they’re fairly easy to overlook anyway). In the trap itself there were 32, along with between 30-40 moths of other species including Poplar Hawkmoth, Burnished Brass and Plain Golden Y.
Moth trapping is a fascinating, if occasionally confusing, way to spend your evenings. Another example of the fact that there’s always something to do or see in the natural world. If birdwatching is the replacement for botany during the winter (and for some naturalists it is), then surely moth-trapping is the replacement for birdwatching at night.