It's not so much the lack of field recorders as a lack of specialist identifiers.
Both, I'd say. Knepp is a place where the more recorders you have, the more new species you will log. The stats reflect that. If there are few types of parasitic wasps logged, it's just because nobody has been searching for parasitic wasps.
It's not so much the lack of field recorders as a lack of specialist identifiers.
Both, I'd say. Knepp is a place where the more recorders you have, the more new species you will log. The stats reflect that. If there are few types of parasitic wasps logged, it's just because nobody has been searching for parasitic wasps.
That's true but moth trapping seems to be the exception as it's very accessible to people of all skill levels. It's finding someone with the time to ID and log everything that seems to be the struggle. Even running one trap once a week I get behind on things very quickly.
I've just seen this Spectacle out flying in bright sunshine and feeding on the Bowles Mauve. They're not listed as day flying and I'd assumed it was another Silver-Y until I saw the specs.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
That's true but moth trapping seems to be the exception as it's very accessible to people of all skill levels. It's finding someone with the time to ID and log everything that seems to be the struggle.
I get that, but they are inundated with ecologists, botanists, phds and undergrads from all over the world. I met five entomology specialists over tea doing field work when I was there last in just a few days (they are a great reason to go and visit Knepp - you will find some uber interesting specialists knocking around). I get that even for professional scientists moth ID is a challenge. For some fauna groups the best work is done there when a specialist in a narrow field is doing research there - just on dung beetles or fresh water mussels. Yes, logging and cross referencing all the data from so many sources is as much of a task as getting the records in the first place.
This one came into the house the other evening when we had the doors to the garden wide open
Slightly less than an inch in length … I can’t ID many moths … not night flying ones anyway. Can someone tell me what it is please? I appreciate it's not the greatest of pics.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I went to a National Trust garden last week and they had a board up saying they've been keeping a record of all the moths they find while tending the gardens. I don't live locally but I'm tempted to drop them an email to offer a couple of nights trapping if they were up for it. It's one of the most temperate gardens in the UK and I saw hummingbird moths just down the road as we were leaving.
My wife booked tickets in advance as they only allow limited numbers in at the moment and I was really looking forward to seeing the natural history collection in the house. We only found out when we were inside the gates that the house is closed for renovation work. They keep it quite quiet on the website It's an amazing garden but not worth £17 + £6 parking when you have two small children who aren't keen to explore at a slow pace.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
My thought was orange swift as well. The colour variation really makes identifying hard. I spent ages identifying mine, its the cross on the back as you look at it. As to offering, go for it, wildedges. I got 49 species on my first nights trapping. I didn't identify them, my moth lady did, but now I have my own trap and two id books for bigger moths, and a micromoth book. Of course a biggish moth thats actually a micromoth like the brown china mark really boggles my eyes. I've taken to potting them, sorting into sizes, picking out the easy ones first , photograph them then let them go into the shrubbery. 110 moths in one night is the highest so far. 15 Large yellow underwings in there. 5 vines rustic on Friday night and a load of square spot rustics. Only 9 large yellow underwings, the seasons are a changing. I think the top one is a flounced rustic and the bottom one a vines rustic.
Another poor night of trapping. Compared to this time last year it's very disappointing. Mostly just large and lesser yellow underwings and a scattering of common species in single numbers. I almost missed this Garden Rose Tortrix though as it was doing a great impression of bird crap on the wall. It was only through the camera that I could tell it was a moth.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.