Okay, so Oak Eggar is hardly a "mega" moth, in fact there are quite a few of these day flying beauties hurtling around the dune system at Ainsdale at the moment, but an away game for the Dempsey Towers moth trap in the dunes north of Shore Road on Thursday night was the first time I've caught one of 'em.
Several came into the light, including this male, which was odd, as I thought only females were attracted by the old mercury vapour.
Once John G and I had lugged a frankly unco-operative generator into a suitable area and cranked it up we trapped from 2100 to 0030 - a fairly short session, but very productive, with large numbers of moths coming in after 2200.
Ruby Tigers and Dingy Footmen were the most abundant, but Drinkers (below) started to come in, bouncing around the trap until they settled in the eggboxes for a snooze, as the distinctive sound of Noctule bats "choppa choppa choppa-ed" over the nearby Sands Lake through my bat detector at 25khz.
With a trap full of moths successful roosted in the boot of the Baby Black Death overnight, I sorted through them on Friday morning.
Luckily I was assisted by Henry (left) and Nick (right), from the Sefton Biodiversity and Access Project.
Fortunately both Nick and Henry are Professors Emeritus of Mothology, so we made short work of the holding jars - the expressions on their faces when they saw the big Eggar were pure gold.
Thanks for your help guys!
Here's the haul:
Moth trapping, area of duneland south west of Sands Lake, August2nd/3rd, 2012.
2100-0030; light swly breeze (f2), humid with clear periods.
Large Yellow Underwing 3
Ruby Tiger 20+
Dingy Footman 31
Common Footman 2
Yellow Shell 1
Oak Eggar 3
Buff Ermine 9
Lesser Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing 10
Lesser Yellow Underwing 2
Drinker 6
Early Thorn 2
Swallow Prominent 1
Chocolate Tip 1
Buff Arches 3
Double Square Spot 4
Common Wainscot 4
Striped Wainscot 2
Dark Arches 2
Snout 1
Brightline Browneye 1
Yellowtail 1
July Highflyer 5
Treble Lines 1
Clouded Border 2
Common Carpet 4
Iron Prominent 2
Miller 1
Small Phoenix 3
Common Wave 6
Dark Spectacle 2
Red Carpet 1
Fanfoot 1
Common Swift 1
Chevron 1
Knot Grass 1
Total of 35sp, about 140 insects, - but as usual I ignored most of the micros, really must get into those critters (or should I?)
Painted Lady at Weld Road today, and the tern roost was looking good at Ainsdale late morning, although I didn't get a chance to work it.
Willow Warblers, a few Jays and Mipits moving through the dunes, and is it me or are those Swifts up above heading south?
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Hmmm, I reckon your Oak Eggar is just a darker coloured female because a male should have thicker feathery antenna like your male Drinker.
Hi John, I just thought you'd like this. It's a live cam feed from the nest of an Estonian Osprey :)
http://pontu.eenet.ee/player/kalakotkas.html
You are right of course Maurice - I hang my meagre mothing head in shame.
PS Thanx for the Osprey link Ed!
Hi John, you can lift your head up high me ol' mucker, as a 'mainly birds' man you do very well with your butterfly and mothing exploits and identification. Also, I've been around for 69 years and have never come across a Chocolate Tip locally (or anywhere else for that matter!!).
Never mind the Eggar dross :-) check the status of Chocolate Tip in Lancashire - its a blank on my MapMate database but I might be missing one or two in the far south-east (technically GM?)!! Well done (the Striped Wainscot also notable).
Red Squirrel dicing with death on the Formby bypass near Tesco on Friday tea time. Hope it made it across, it was heading in the direction of the pinewoods.
Dead Fox By-pass end of Ince woods this morning