Tuesday 21 July 2009

MBT..............OMG! :0)































They say a picture says a thousand words but even these photos don't express my astonishment and sheer joy at just how well the new MBT lamp performed.....put it this way...within 10 minutes I had a Dark Arches on my foot and a Poplar Hawk on my arm, the trap was constantly being 'buzzed' by 3 or 4 moths at a time and from my vantage point(sat in a cumfy garden chair 15 feet away!) I watched moth after moth fall into the trap. I put a sheet out under the trap which also had a regular supply of moths landing on it that could be easily 'encouraged' into the trap and the amount of species I didn't recognize was mind boggling(I didn't manage to get photos of everything but I got quite a few).

I put the new lamp on the 'Skinner' trap and it was out from 9:50pm till 3:30am.

Tonights log

2 Poplar Hawk
5 Dark Arches
3 Lesser Yellow Under-Wing
7 Orange Underwing
4 Mother Of Pearl
3 Silver-Y
4 Riband Wave
2 Phlyctaenia Coronata
5 Marbled Beauty
1 Smoky Wainscot
2 Dot Moth
1 Magpie
1 Brimstone
5 Early Thorn
2 Lesser Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing(see photo above)
1 Poplar Grey
1 Dun-Bar(see photo above)
3 Shuttle-Shaped Dart(see photo above)
1 Pebble Prominent(see photo above)
3 Heart & Dart(see photo above)
1 Cabbage Moth(see photo above)
1 Campion(see photo above)
17 Uncertain
37 assorted micro moths
112 moths!, what a wonderful night!

I would like to thank Ben at Essex Moths blog for recommending the MBT lamp and supplier http://bensale-essexmoths.blogspot.com/ (I hope you realise Ben you're just making things more difficult for yourself now I'm getting even more moths for you to identify! :0)
And I would like to thank Paul Batty for all his help and advice and for supplying the lamp quickly and cheaply(£31.90 inc P&P) http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/mercury/mbt/index.html

3 comments:

  1. Well done Ian, i'm glad it returned good catches for you, as the Moths beconme accustomed to the new light source you should see cathes increase, so try again tonight!
    I've been getting in the region of 5-10 new species a night is manic!

    All the best

    Ben

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  2. One more thing, make sure you protect the lamp from any water, as it is very sensitive to even a few drops getting onto it (as it burns very hot)

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  3. The forecast is for clear night skies for most of this week so I should be ok but I will be investing in a cafetiere to place over the lamp if there's any sign of rain.

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