Taicynhaeaf Moths

 

We recently rented a cottage at Taicynhaeaf sitting in the hills just above the Mawddach valley. It was for a family holiday but before you travel, thoughts stray to birding and to Dippers, Pied Flycatchers and Wood Warblers, all birds that I am unlikely to see in Sussex. We were only about a mile from the Coed Garth Gell nature reserve a place I had always wanted to visit and the birds were sure to be there.

Once you arrive reality steps in and you realise that you came to be with the family and in particular with the grandchildren. Covid has caused too many separations and time to bond with the family and for the enjoyment that brings takes priority even over the birding. Coed Garth Gell will have to wait for another time.

I still managed to find some time for solitude and for nature. I am an early riser and being up at five in the morning to empty the moth trap, before the rest of the house is stirring, is a great way to start the day.

Lobster Moth - Stauropus fagi

I had expected a different range of moths but just how different really surprised me. I put the trap out on the night we arrived and just after midnight I went out to take a look. I counted seven Lobster moths sitting on the outside of the trap and on the adjacent wall. Although not uncommon this is a moth I had never seen before. There were other moths on the wall as well and I needed to pot them or get them into the trap to ensure the birds did not feast on them before I got up the next morning.

Lobster Moth - Stauropus fagi

Excitement overcame me and I failed to give due note to the midges that I could see flying around the trap. I was in shorts and short sleeved shirt but I thought a couple of bites were a good price to pay to ensure I did not miss any of the moths. The morning found me in some discomfort having given up counting at a hundred bites on my legs alone. I had also forgotten just how bad midge bites can be. It's not the surgical strike of a mosquito more a jagged and infected chewing of the skin that takes up to two weeks to die down. Still the moths were good and at least the rest of the family had a good laugh! 

Pale Tussock - Calliteara pudibunda

I felt some sense of satisfaction the next morning when I found about a quarter of an inch layer of dead midges in the bottom of the trap but it was short lived. It raises so many questions. How long do midges live? Had the trap killed them? Do midges bite moths and if so what had it been like for the moths in the trap? So much still to learn and understand.

Green Arches - Anaplectoides prasina

I put the trap out every night and found something new every morning, coming home with a list of twenty six new moths. The first and last nights were the best of the holiday, having overcast and humid conditions with low wind speeds but all the mothing sessions were enjoyable. Its like opening an unexpected present every day.

Drinker - Euthrix potatoria

The following are a selection of some of the better moth pictures from the holiday.

Barred Red - Hylaea fasciaria

Beautifull Snout - Hypena crassalis

Purple Clay - Diarsia brunnea

Brussels Lace - Cleorodes lichenaria

Clouded-bordered Brindle - Apamea crenata

Fox Moth - Macrothylacia rubi

Pale-shouldered Brocade - Lacanobia thalassina

Garden Tiger - Arctia caja

Green Oak Tortrix - Tortrix viridana

Grey Arches - Polia nebulosa

I think, a July Belle - Scotopteryx luridata plumbaria

Peppered Moth - Biston betularia

Green Silver-Lines - Pseudoips prasinana britannica

Triple-spotted Clay - Xestia ditrapezium

True Lover's Knot - Lycophotia porphyrea

What other mothing delights were waiting in the hills and woods for me to find and will I ever get back for another look?

Note

Coed Garth Gell nature reserve. I have noticed that the RSPB, Google maps and probably others have started referring to it as RSPB Mawddach Woodlands. I am not a great supporter of Welsh nationalism or the welsh language but surely this is a battle that must be fought. You cannot lose that name.