Friday 20 July 2018

Wine ropes for moths

Moths are an unknown for me. So many, little ones, big ones, day-flying ones, pugs, carpets, thorns, hawks... just dipping my toe into the water makes me realise that this could be an all-consuming passion (in the warmer months anyway!). I thought I'd start gently, with some wine ropes (although I'd love to run a light trap sometime!).

The recipe was 500g of sugar dissolved into a bottle of cheap red wine, slowly heating in a pan. I tore up an old bedsheet for the 'ropes' and once the wine/sugar liquid had cooled enough, soaked the strips then hung them up around the garden and waited for dark...

Silver Y

Dark Arches

Treble Brown Spot

Large Yellow Underwing

Light Arches

Clouded Brindle

This has me completely stumped

Silver Y

Mottled Beauty

The Herald
I've had to get myself a moth field guide to save my eyes from too much onscreen time trying to ID these! I've added the ID that I've hazarded a guess at. These were from a couple of nights, the first in June (#30DaysWild) and the second in July, well into the heatwave/dry spell. These shenanigans also went into the nature journal of course (where you'll spot the hoggie that also visited!).








Saturday 7 July 2018

Reviving the slumbering blog...

After a gap of 12 months I'm waking up Cambridgeshire Nature Notes with the intention of posting my nature journalling efforts on as regular a basis as I can manage. I've just completed 30 days of nature journalling, inspired by The Wildlife Trusts' #30DaysWild. So, to start, here's a link to the flip-through of the journal...


Barley field at sunset, Cambridgeshire

Hoping this will kick-start some regular uploads of the natural world I see around me.