This was the 5th year that the Branch had contributed to the Loch Fleet Open Day and as usual we started with a look at the moths from the traps before going on to hunt for butterflies.
There was a small band of 10 of us for the moths, most of whom had been at moth events before, and 32 species of macro moth were eventually identified but not without the ever valuable help of Roy Leverton who was sent a few photos later in the day. Micros were left for another time! Of particular note among them were Straw Underwing, Coast Dart and Archer’s Dart together with what was (according to Roy) almost certainly Crinan Ear.
As we were reaching the last of the moths David Paterson of SNH arrived with a group of several families who had come for the day's events and we fortunately still had a few moths left to show them. With a batch of small children present, butterfly nets became the order of the day and although there was only patchy sun they all managed to catch several butterflies of all the expected species as well as various grasshoppers, flies, spiders and grass seeds which largely remained unidentified! Captures were examined carefully in pots before releasing them again soon afterwards. A lot of energy was expended by the young and hopefully a spark of interest might be carried into the future.
After all that the venison burgers and juice provided by Forestry Commission staff were very welcome and enjoyed to the accompaniment of fiddle and accordion music from Terry Keating and John MacDonald as well as some fine tunes from an up and coming young clarsach player.
Butterfly species recorded :- Small Copper, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Dark Green Fritillary, Grayling, Meadow Brown, and Small Heath.
Moths recorded :- Small Fan-footed Wave, Riband Wave, Flame Carpet, Purple Bar, Barred Straw, Beech-green Carpet, July Highflyer, Magpie Moth, Scalloped Oak, Dotted Carpet, Barred Red, Common Footman, White-line Dart, Coast Dart, Archer's Dart, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, True Lover's Knot, Ingrailed Clay, Small Square-spot, Six-striped Rustic, Heath Rustic, Bright-line Brown-eye, Antler Moth, Smoky Wainscot, Straw Underwing, Dark Arches, Rosy Minor, Flounced Rustic, Crinan Ear, Common Rustic agg. and Rustic/Uncertain. |
