mother's allure

 

30th April.

All about the moths. (Nothing to do with rearing children.) Iain had posted a mothing event at Gordon Community Woodland and I before I had even wondered how I would arrange to get there, (somewhere between Lauder and Kelso) Alistair had offered to drive me there. All I had to do was to get from home to his place, near Bonnyrigg for before 9am. This meant catching 2 buses at an hour I normally wouldn't be out of bed and hoping the first wasn't late. To my great surprise it all panned out fine and I was walking across the wilds of Bonnyrigg about 8.30 phoning Alistair to say I was lost. He said turn around and I saw him waving from his front door. The drive South whizzed by with much banter about wildlife and photography, butterflies and birds. We had had so much interaction online that it did not feel like the first time we had met face to face.

white ermine moth?

We arrived early but there was already a small group milling about admiring moths caught in moth traps overnight. 3 people had put out moth traps the night before (a strong bulb over a receptacle to catch moths attracted to the light) and had trapped a variety of species. They are jarred for examination before being released unharmed.

I recently saw a moth trap (second hand) for sale on a butterfly and moth facebook group. Someone had enquired where it was and when the seller replied Edinburgh I thought I must have a look. I went along and bought it. I have yet to set it up and try it out partly because I haven't had time and partly because it requires an early start to retrieve the caught moths, and release them. It is quite bulky (having a power source similar to a car battery) to transport to a suitable location - I'm thinking Warriston Cemetery. Watch this space.

Moths have a definite allure but can be less aesthetically dynamic than butterflies. (Dull, brownish and small!) But also more secretive, often being night fliers. There are far more UK species than butterflies and their names can be evocative or just descriptive. Carpenter Moths, Gypsy Moths, Hawk Moths, Tiger Moths, Small Dark Yellow Underwing Moths! It is a wholly different world from butterflies (albeit with quite a lot of similarities) and often referred to by them as the dark side.

Early Thorn Moth

green-veined white (butterfly)

We moved from the car park to the pond area where some of the moths were released so people could photograph them in a natural setting. Folk were milling about and chatting, getting distracted by passing butterflies; lots of like minded people quietly raving about lepidoptera and photography. Iain had planned to chat to the group as a whole but I think got waylaid by interactions and meeting folk and struggled to keep the group focussed as it was a bit like herding cats. The good thing: the weather remained fine and there was no sign of the rain, forecast for later. It was all very pleasant and I enjoyed meeting old pals and new and chatting to folk I'd only met online (mostly on Iain's excellent East Scottish Butterflies fb group.)

Early Thorn

At the centre of Gordon Community Woodland lies this old railway line. We walked some distance down it and Iain gathered us in a group to demonstrate the Emperor Moth lure. Emperor Moths are one of the most spectacular moths in the UK and fly from now till June. They are not huge (about the size of a small tortoiseshell butterfly) but are well marked in tans and reds and whites with 4 eye spots. The lures are small rubber bungs impregnated with a pheromone that replicates the female Emperor. The males have very sensitive detection equipment and will fly from quite a distance at the smallest whiff of a female. You are unlikely to see a male emperor close up without the use of a lure. I have been walking and running through the Pentlands for 20 years and have only seen the briefest glimpse of a male as they zoomed by on a couple of occasions. I have come across a female on 2 occasions - they do not have the same ability to fly and tend to flutter along the heather at night, more than during the day. 

There were both Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs in the surrounding trees. I think this one was the former but could easily have been the latter. 

The audience gathered round for a magic trick

the magicIAIN at work

In the background are the pheromone lure - in a small bag to let them waft across the moor. Within a couple of minutes the first emperor appeared. I had thought we might have to wait 10 minutes. Alistair (jokingly) reckoned someone was releasing them in the nearby woods because surely this was just too prompt, too on cue to be real. Iain got out a recepticle and without too much bother caught the excitable moth. They go into a mild frenzy when hunting females. It is their sole reason for existence. They have no mouthparts for feeding and won't last more than a few weeks while fulfilling their life mission to find a female and mate. To calm them down, they can be captured and put into darkness in a cool place (under a jacket in the cool shadows of the woods) for 5 mins and when brought back out they will take a short while to warm up again, perhaps settling on the heather to be photographed.

I think there were about 20 moth/butterfly enthusiasts

This emperor (the second to arrive) was very well behaved and after being drawn in to near where we were gathered, sat down in the grass and posed for 15 minutes while we all gathered round taking photos. It seemed unfazed by our presence. The ability of the lure to draw in emperors was really outstanding. I have been out on the moors and grasslands and seen "something" whiz by, never certain whether it was a butterfly or moth (perhaps Eggar or Emperor?) and too slow over tussocky ground to chase these fast flying beauties. Here, by magic, (well science really), we were able to appreciate them at close quarters with only a minor inconvenience to them. It was such a good trick that at least 3 of us bought emperor lures online in the next few days. My subsequent adventures to follow shortly. However I can relate they really work and are super effective.

the paparazzi gather round for a photo of moth royalty

Sonia leant a hand to proceedings 

It was a great day out and went like a smoothly oiled machine. Iain was relieved everything worked out fine and we managed to get everyone parked up in the limited area and the emperors arrived on cue etc. We had sandwiches and snacks at the pond, big thank you Sonia for the traybake which was superb, and lots of butterfly banter. While it was great to meet so many other enthusiasts it was also quite unusual - mostly I go butterfly hunting solo and am not used to a small crowd for company. But this was a very successful day out and a great way to meet emperor moths, a very spectacular species.

orange tip
Someone else spotted this one and we queued up to take the same photo!

buzzard

oops forgot to switch off my gps before leaving in car

Alistair suggested on the return trip we take a diversion to one of his favourite haunts, Portmore Reservoir. I was surprsied to find when we got out the car that I was strangely familiar with the surroundings. I knew when we approached the water that there was a pier of sorts and over on the right a platform of decking. Because I had swum across there on a Carnethy open water swim some time ago. I hadn't really remembered the name of the place as I had been driven there by someone else and not paid sufficient heed. We swam the length of this smallish reservoir and back to the platform and a very pleasant place it was. 

On this occasion I didn't take many photos as the forecast rain was now drizzling and my camera is not at all waterproof. I brought it out very briefly to photograph crossbills in the trees at the far end as I have never knowingly seen this species before. I held the camera case (umbrella like) over the camera while I hastily took a couple of shots. Then stowed it away. The green hairstreaks remained hidden, having more sense than to appear in rain. It did seem like an excellent venue for wildlife and Alistair pointed out all the places he had seen stuff from pine martins to birds of prey. Big thanks to Alistair for driving me about on a day I would have struggled to do similar on the bike or by public transport.

Portmore Reservoir
oops forgot to put the gps on till we were nearly halfway round!
Top spot for a sunnier day.