Above: The purpose-built trap at LLNR (Photo: Gordon Redford)
The evening of Tuesday 25th August was originally scheduled for a Society BBQ and Moth Night at Linford Lakes Nature Reserve. This was cancelled along with the rest of the summer walks due to Covid 19, but in turns out that it would have been cancelled anyway as 25th August saw the arrival of heavy rain followed by strong gales as storm Francis swept through.
Gordon Redford nevertheless ran the two traps there as usual and as a better forecast was scheduled for 26th, I joined Gordon and Ayla Webb in the early morning to video them emptying the traps and recording the night’s catch. Weather conditions meant this was not very large, but represents a selection of what is flying at this time of year at Linford Lakes. Any deficiencies in the videos are down to me!
The first trap is situated between a reedbed and the lake; the second is a fixed, purpose-built trap against the wall adjacent to the main building at the reserve.
The video of the emptying of the first trap is in two parts:
Video 1: Emptying of first moth trap, Part 1
Video 2: Emptying of first moth trap, Part 2
The video of the emptying of the second trap is here:
Video 3: Linford Lakes Moth Trapping
At the start of this third video, where we look at the contents of the fixed, purpose-built trap at LLNR, there is mention of the shed that Gordon would like – but somehow we never came back to explain … This refers to the moth trapping arrangements of Mr Plusia (who gave his name to the moth called Dewick’s Plusia) in the 1950s on the Essex coast. He had a shed with a similar style moth trap built into the roof. Photos show him in the shed, with the shed’s walls covered in moths. He could examine them at leisure without any danger of them flying away, or any problems with wind and rain! Maybe one day, Gordon …
Linda Murphy