BERKSHIRE MOTH GROUP at LECKHAMPSTEAD
Saturday 16th June
Meet at Leckhampstead Village Hall 8.30pm
If you wish to attend, please register your interest by contacting:
Mark Calway, Chairman e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or phone (0118) 961 3520 or mobile (07770) 825195.
Summary of the evening
The person running the evening will be Paul Black.
The Berkshire Moth Group will set up one or more moth traps at Grove Pit and, possibly, Hill Green. Members of the group may arrive slightly earlier in order to make a final assessment of the sites for locating the moth traps and equipment.
There will be one member of the Berkshire Moth Group at the Village Hall at 8:30pm to meet any visitors and to escort them to the first trapping location. Visitors should be aware that they must be responsible for their own safety and the safety of those around them. Children of 16 years and under must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Appropriate footwear such as sturdy boots, or Wellington boots if it has been raining, is recommended.
Night-time in the middle of June can sometimes be quite chilly. Visitors are advised to dress appropriately with a number of layers and to consider bringing gloves. Please bring a torch.
People should remember, that in the middle of June it does not get dark until quite late and the moths will not start flying until sometime after dusk.
If the weather is suitable, the setup is likely to be “a lamp over a sheet”. This arrangement allows much better access and visibility, so visitors are able to see the moths as they arrive and land on the sheet on the ground. At this point moths are either identified by sight, or they are ”potted up” in transparent containers so that they can be more easily identified. This also allows the moths to be handed around to visitors so they can get a better view.
Over the last 10 years, the interest in identifying and recording moths has gained in popularity year-on-year. Every county in the United Kingdom now has a county Moth recorder who receives records from all Moth recorders (predominantly amateurs), validates them and submits some to a national database. The United Kingdom leads the world in the quality and quantity of data, which in turn has provided factual evidence of changes, such as changes over time in climate, because moths are sensitive to such changes. Changes in the distribution of species and changes in the actual number of individual moths seen each year are extremely good indicators of changes to the environment.
Over the same period of people have been getting out in greater numbers identifying moths, there has been a significant, measured, decline in the abundance of moths. In some cases the populations have declined by up to 80% in 10 years. The main causes of the decline which has occurred not just in the United Kingdom but across all of Europe are believed to be loss of habitat, the use of pesticides, and changes to the climate. The latter has had an effect on the range of many species who have moved tens or hundreds of kilometres north.
Although the gathering of data about the distribution of moths, the flight time, and their abundance has been invaluable in providing solid data that can be interrogated and provide information such as the above, and also advice to help general conservation, the main reason most people get hawked by the hobby is because it is fun, fascinating and to a large extent free.
The Berkshire Moth group has a website and a Yahoo discussion group which allows participation and communication between members who are unable to attend the meetings in Earley ,or those who want to share news between meetings. (http://sites.google.com/site/berksmoths/Home)
Mark Calway
Chairman, Berkshire Moth group
