I had another very early start today, to get up to the Northern tip of Cumbria by 9.30am, so I couldn't use the trap. Instead I took the camera to my destination, the RSPB reserve at Geltsdale which is pioneering non-shooting preservation of moorland. It's huge - 53 square km - but I can only bring you this tiny moth. It's a Silver-ground Carpet (thanks for the identification to the reserve's knowledgeable warden Dave O'Hara). I was hoping we might find an Emperor Moth caterpillar or cocoon, but the only other sightings were hosts of little grass moths, loads of Ringlet butterflies and - grandly, near the old coal mine manager's house in the middle of nowhere - a solitary Dark Green Fritillary. On the subject of identification, many thanks to Jax Westmoreland and her fellow experts at Butterfly Conservation Yorkshire (see one of my spanking new links, left) for confirming that the moth three entries below is indeed a Beautiful Golden Y.
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
A small moth in a large world
I had another very early start today, to get up to the Northern tip of Cumbria by 9.30am, so I couldn't use the trap. Instead I took the camera to my destination, the RSPB reserve at Geltsdale which is pioneering non-shooting preservation of moorland. It's huge - 53 square km - but I can only bring you this tiny moth. It's a Silver-ground Carpet (thanks for the identification to the reserve's knowledgeable warden Dave O'Hara). I was hoping we might find an Emperor Moth caterpillar or cocoon, but the only other sightings were hosts of little grass moths, loads of Ringlet butterflies and - grandly, near the old coal mine manager's house in the middle of nowhere - a solitary Dark Green Fritillary. On the subject of identification, many thanks to Jax Westmoreland and her fellow experts at Butterfly Conservation Yorkshire (see one of my spanking new links, left) for confirming that the moth three entries below is indeed a Beautiful Golden Y.
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