Worlingham Woods - 2.3.19
When Butterflies of Britain boss, Lindsey Moore, told me that she had secured Worlingham Woods for her education groups, I didn't even try to contain my excitement! The 29 acre site is situated on the outskirts of the town between the Beccles Road and the River Waveney. The surrounding countryside is a rich mosaic of mixed deciduous woodland, farmland, scrub and marshland. The semi-natural wood has quite a diverse range of trees from young Birch to mature Oak with lines of Lime, stands of Sycamore and occasional Pine. The undisturbed nature of this wood means it has a greater potential for wildlife and as for moths; we just really want to know!
As Lindsey, Steve and the rest of the BoB Team were keen to get started on the wood, they arranged a work party to begin the process of removing unhealthy and dangerous trees from the top section of the wood. It seemed like a good opportunity for Peter to recce the site and decide on a good location for our first mothing session.
At 4.30pm we arrived on site full of anticipation. Again, my eldest son Nathan joined us and helped us deploy the usual 6 light trap setup. Base camp was set next to the toilet block which is a luxury compared with most of the sites we trap at. A set of 3 traps were situated along a ride in Birch woodland with others near mature Chestnut and mixed younger trees. Lindsey and Steve's 4 children plus Ellie and her clan joined us just as the lights were switched on. The waiting had begun....
Lindsey and Steve took me on a quick tour of the top end of the wood while they set camera traps to get a glimpse of other wildlife in the wood. As darkness fell we saw our first moths flying and managed to net a couple of Chestnuts as we made our way back to base. In our absence more Chestnuts and a Common Quaker arrived to the sheet and were potted and shown the group. As it was the first time moth trapping for most of the group we decided to do an early round of the traps at 6.30pm. Along the way we spotted the first of several Dotted Borders and lots more Chestnuts and Common Quakers. At the first trap we had the first of the special moth of the night; one that we recorded only 24 hours before... a Yellow Horned.
More good moths continued to arrive and as this is a new site, every species recorded is important. Pale Brindled Beauty seems to be having a good year and a few were seen this evening even though the flight season for them was coming to an end. Common Quakers continued to pour in as the numbers of Chestnut eased off. Then the best moth of the night so far dropped dropped in while the kids were toasting marshmallows at base camp... a stunning Oak Beauty which was one of our targets for the session.
By the end of the night we had 3 of these stunning moths which were real crowd pleasers. They are quite variable in colour and pattern; here's another one from Worlingham.
The Quakers are part of the Orthosia family of moths and are found mainly in early Spring. Common Quaker, as the name suggests can be very numerous in good habitat like this. The final total of Common Quaker was 76 with some beautifully marked specimens like this one.
One member of the Orthosia family we have not seen much of yet this year is the Small Quaker. With only one specimen the night before in Dunwich Forest we were hoping for more this evening but again, we caught only one.
Time for the final round out traps as the wind was picking up and the marshmallow supply was dwindling so we started packing up the traps and adding the contents to the list. Good numbers of March Moth, Yellow Horned and Dotted Border were found with yet more of the abundant Common Quakers. A few micros were potted for further attention including what turned out to be an Agonopterix ocellana, with the curious common name of Red-letter Flat-body.
Lindsey and Steve ran their trap on this evening. It's an excellent trap with a combination of actinic and synergetic bulbs available from Paul Batty. A combination of different light certainly seems to attract different moths and a previous field trip with this trap produced remarkable numbers of micro moths.
We were keen, therefore, to see what it would attract here at Worlingham this early in the year when not as many micros are flying. A good range of moths was present when we went though its contents an egg tray at a time. Yellow Horned, March Moth, Chestnut Dotted Border and Common Quaker were all there. Then I turned over the last tray and there, hiding at the bottom was the moth of the night and a completely new moth for me and Peter, a Small Brindled Beauty. What a stunner!
So a very satisfactory end to the night with a couple of new moths for 2019 and this fabulous Small Brindled Beauty was the best moth of the year so far.
Here are some more of Lindsey's photos from the evening:
I think a great time was had by all and we look forward to the next mothing session at this fantastic site but after back-to-back nights in the field, we are going to have a bit of a break to catch up on sleep!
Final stats for the night:
Firhill Covert, Worlingham 2-3-19
Chestnut 45
Dotted Border 9
Agonopterix ocellana 2
Agonopterix sp. 1
Yellow Horned 12
Acleris agg 2
Common Quaker 76
March Moth 15
Pale Brindled Beauty 1
Oak Beauty 5
Small Brindled Beauty 1
Small Quaker 1
As Lindsey, Steve and the rest of the BoB Team were keen to get started on the wood, they arranged a work party to begin the process of removing unhealthy and dangerous trees from the top section of the wood. It seemed like a good opportunity for Peter to recce the site and decide on a good location for our first mothing session.
At 4.30pm we arrived on site full of anticipation. Again, my eldest son Nathan joined us and helped us deploy the usual 6 light trap setup. Base camp was set next to the toilet block which is a luxury compared with most of the sites we trap at. A set of 3 traps were situated along a ride in Birch woodland with others near mature Chestnut and mixed younger trees. Lindsey and Steve's 4 children plus Ellie and her clan joined us just as the lights were switched on. The waiting had begun....
 |
| Base Camp |
 |
| Yellow Horned - Head on to show the 'horns' |
 |
| Yellow Horned |
More good moths continued to arrive and as this is a new site, every species recorded is important. Pale Brindled Beauty seems to be having a good year and a few were seen this evening even though the flight season for them was coming to an end. Common Quakers continued to pour in as the numbers of Chestnut eased off. Then the best moth of the night so far dropped dropped in while the kids were toasting marshmallows at base camp... a stunning Oak Beauty which was one of our targets for the session.
 |
| Oak Beauty |
By the end of the night we had 3 of these stunning moths which were real crowd pleasers. They are quite variable in colour and pattern; here's another one from Worlingham.
 |
| Another Beauty |
The Quakers are part of the Orthosia family of moths and are found mainly in early Spring. Common Quaker, as the name suggests can be very numerous in good habitat like this. The final total of Common Quaker was 76 with some beautifully marked specimens like this one.
 |
| Common Quaker |
One member of the Orthosia family we have not seen much of yet this year is the Small Quaker. With only one specimen the night before in Dunwich Forest we were hoping for more this evening but again, we caught only one.
 |
| Small Quaker |
Time for the final round out traps as the wind was picking up and the marshmallow supply was dwindling so we started packing up the traps and adding the contents to the list. Good numbers of March Moth, Yellow Horned and Dotted Border were found with yet more of the abundant Common Quakers. A few micros were potted for further attention including what turned out to be an Agonopterix ocellana, with the curious common name of Red-letter Flat-body.
 |
| Agonopterix ocellana |
Lindsey and Steve ran their trap on this evening. It's an excellent trap with a combination of actinic and synergetic bulbs available from Paul Batty. A combination of different light certainly seems to attract different moths and a previous field trip with this trap produced remarkable numbers of micro moths.
 |
| The 62 watt trap from Paul Batty |
We were keen, therefore, to see what it would attract here at Worlingham this early in the year when not as many micros are flying. A good range of moths was present when we went though its contents an egg tray at a time. Yellow Horned, March Moth, Chestnut Dotted Border and Common Quaker were all there. Then I turned over the last tray and there, hiding at the bottom was the moth of the night and a completely new moth for me and Peter, a Small Brindled Beauty. What a stunner!
 |
| Star Moth! Small Brindled Beauty |
 |
| Look at those Antennae! |
 |
| Another View |
So a very satisfactory end to the night with a couple of new moths for 2019 and this fabulous Small Brindled Beauty was the best moth of the year so far.
Here are some more of Lindsey's photos from the evening:
I think a great time was had by all and we look forward to the next mothing session at this fantastic site but after back-to-back nights in the field, we are going to have a bit of a break to catch up on sleep!
Final stats for the night:
Firhill Covert, Worlingham 2-3-19
Chestnut 45
Dotted Border 9
Agonopterix ocellana 2
Agonopterix sp. 1
Yellow Horned 12
Acleris agg 2
Common Quaker 76
March Moth 15
Pale Brindled Beauty 1
Oak Beauty 5
Small Brindled Beauty 1
Small Quaker 1
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