Life turns 1. Moth-er

Another Life.turns from the custom-built studio of Gladders. See previous entries for
Saturday
and last Weds.

This one is not a lament to lost activities. This activity is suitable for anybody, no matter how decrepit, so long as there is some residual eyesight. A tendency towards sleeplessness is actually advantageous.

Life.turns did inspire me to get the light trap out again for the first time in 2 months though. I had been putting the trap out on an at least weekly basis until mid-June. That was when I discovered as I went out just before dawn at 0430 am that one of our hen blackbirds had worked out that moth traps mean a hearty breakfast of fat-bodied moths. She was perched next to the trap, undeterred by the brilliant mercury vapour lamp, gathering a huge bill full of tasty buff ermine moths. It set her and her family up for the day, no doubt, but it was not quite what was intended. And in case you are wondering, the intention is to to trap the moths, record and count what is found and then release them again the following evening.

A note on the equipment. What you see is a plastic box that has a contraption mounted on it to hold a mercury vapour lamp (emitting uv light that attracts moths), under the lamp are so-called vanes that the moths collide with as they spiral in to the lamp, and a funnel through which they drop into the box beneath. In the box are egg boxes that the moths settle on to sit out the night. This trap is a budget model built by a mothing electrician in Sheffield, and is loosely based on the principle of the Robinson trap. The Robinson is a highly effective trap but its disadvantage is its astronomic cost. There is a another design of trap called the Heath trap that is slightly less effective than the Robinson. My trap combines features of both, and could perhaps be appropriately called a Heath Robinson trap. It has the disadvantage of being extremely leaky, the moths go in, and immediately fly back out again - a bit of a design flaw. What they then do is settle on the grass and shrubs nearby.

You will notice the unkempt lawn is strewn with egg trays. These provide shelter for the moths as they settle next to the lamp, and a measure of protection from the blackbirds and robins that home in on the trap at dawn. Note I have a colleague who has a similar trap, who claims that he never has moths perched around the trap in the morning. What time do you get up to check it, I ask? Oh, normal time about 7 o clock. Think to myself, this man clearly has some very well fed blackbirds.

The other item of equipment is the butterfly net, that I have here stylishly posed upside down. That's what we do for art. The net comes in handy for catching incoming moths if you linger by the trap. I have found that my catch increases greatly if I stay with the trap for a few hours, since many moths come and go without entering the trap or settling. Bob, the cat (not shown), has also shown his mothing skills, there is one species that he caught (it was unscathed) one night that I had never seen before nor since.

Anyway, that and a good identification guide, are all you need for a very fulfilling hobby in your own back garden. Living next to the woodlands and grasslands of Arnside Knott, I am fortunate to get a good range of species visiting the garden. So far I have had over 270 species of the so-called macros, the larger and more easily identified species, as well as innumerable unidentifiable micros.

When I first started with a borrowed trap I was utterly amazed and entranced by what I caught in my own garden. I simply had no idea that so many, gob-smackingly beautiful creatures even existed, never mind were frequenting the garden at night. If you think moths are dull and brown, think again. Admittedly many of the are brown, but dull no. That said I have never been able to convince my mate Simon of the beauties of moths, he thinks they are all one species with a slight amount of variation. There again he has his own nerdy passions, particularly for obscure willow species found on mountains. I tend to be fairly undiscriminating with animals and plants, I adore them all.

If you need any convincing, take a look at a picture of one of the species caught last night, the lesser swallow prominent.

Anyway, if you have read this far, thank you. Tomorrow we shall be back on Scafell, and hopefully will have time to blip in the evening.

Because I was up before dawn this morning, I did get out to see the sunrise, and a beauty it was too. I shall try and post some pictures on Flickr later here.

If you have followed the life.turns entries, the lawn has now been cut. After being swept of any remaining moths of course.