After a few mothing session in the back yard, I felt ready to try out my battery powered LED lighting up on the hill above the house. So traveling no more than about 300m (so keeping local), just before 10pm last night I had the trap up and running by 5 past 10.
The lights are 15 x 5v blacklight LEDs running off my charger, making the whole trap light and easily portable. The battery has a 5v output and is said to have enough charge to last some 10 hours. In the 6 hours I ran the trap I used less than half the stored charge. From that point alone, this was a successful experiment.
As for the mothing, 75 moths from 25 species. Unsurprisingly, Heart and Dart's provided almost half of the total, with 37 individuals. Next most common were Peppered Moth and Large Yellow Underwing, both with 5 each. For the first time, more than a single micro made it into the trap, with singles of Chrysoteuchia culmella and Celypha lacunana and 3 Eudoinia agg.
One moth landed briefly on the outside of the trap and kept it's wings closed above its abdomin, as per butterflies. I managed one half decent photo before it flew off. It's a Eulithis, but which species?
Mid way through the night I could hear the local Tawny Owl chicks begging for food, but no sight or sound of the adults. And a surprise with the first species in the dawn chorus - Swallow - singing in the early morning grey light before the first Blackbird or Robin had uttered a note.
The lights are 15 x 5v blacklight LEDs running off my charger, making the whole trap light and easily portable. The battery has a 5v output and is said to have enough charge to last some 10 hours. In the 6 hours I ran the trap I used less than half the stored charge. From that point alone, this was a successful experiment.
As for the mothing, 75 moths from 25 species. Unsurprisingly, Heart and Dart's provided almost half of the total, with 37 individuals. Next most common were Peppered Moth and Large Yellow Underwing, both with 5 each. For the first time, more than a single micro made it into the trap, with singles of Chrysoteuchia culmella and Celypha lacunana and 3 Eudoinia agg.
One moth landed briefly on the outside of the trap and kept it's wings closed above its abdomin, as per butterflies. I managed one half decent photo before it flew off. It's a Eulithis, but which species?
Mid way through the night I could hear the local Tawny Owl chicks begging for food, but no sight or sound of the adults. And a surprise with the first species in the dawn chorus - Swallow - singing in the early morning grey light before the first Blackbird or Robin had uttered a note.
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