The Suffolk Argus
Garden Moths Count 2009 Tony Prichard outlines the survey for twenty large, easily identified moths in your garden. Beginners at moth recording may find the sight of a full trap of moths in the summer a rather daunting identification challenge. Even in suburban settings moth traps can attract hundreds of moths of over seventy species a night, in a variety of shapes and sizes. The rather steep learning curve in identification skills can put off some people starting moth recording and others fall by the wayside after a relatively short period of recording.
night or to try more regular recording in your garden. Moth recording may require greater identification skills than butterflies, but the effort can be very rewarding and does become easier with practice. Further details on the Garden Moths Count project can be found at the Moths Count website (www.mothscount.org). The website is currently showing the results of the 2008 survey and details for the 2009 survey should be available shortly.
The Moths Count project has recognised this and for a couple of years has been running a 'Garden Moths Count' project aimed specifically at people with little experience of moth recording. The project is to be run again in 2009, between the 20th and 29th June, and may be of interest to some. The project website gives ideas for attracting moths without purchasing expensive equipment. Once you have attracted your moths the project only requires that a limited number (20) of larger easily identified moths are recorded. The intention is that beginners should not find identifying and recording the moths too arduous a task. Submitting your results is reasonably straightforward using the online form on the website and records submitted are then converted to distribution maps, these are later made available on the website. Garden Moths Count will hopefully give you a taster of moth recording in general and tempt you to come along to a moth Lime Hawk Moth by Mervyn Crawford
6
