Nipstone Rockers Get High on NMN!

Don’t worry! NMN is not some new mind-changing drug used by ageing rock fans. It’s simply an acronym for National Moth Night and the Wrekin Forest Volunteers, contrary to popular belief, do not need any sort of drug to get high! We simply drag ourselves up to 1400’ above sea level, which is where we found ourselves on the night (and ALL night!) of Saturday, May 15th, 2010 to trap, identify and record the moths that frequent this fascinating upland heath habitat.

Nipstone Rock is owned and managed by Shropshire Wildlife Trust and although it doesn’t fall within the Wrekin Forest Volunteers remit as far as area is concerned (which is Telford & Wrekin) it was the group that organised the event and we were there to hopefully record the presence of the fabulous Emperor Moth. An earlier recce a few weeks ago, however, showed no evidence whatsoever that this attractive species was colonising here this year as there were no large brown cocoons to be seen anywhere on the reserve. This is how the Emperor pupae spend their winter - wrapped up in a silk cocoon - waiting for April/May when they emerge to mate, lay eggs, hatch into caterpillars, gorge on heather and repeat the process.

Not one to be put off I reasoned there may be a chance that a few would migrate across from the nearby Long Mynd where they had recently been seen in their adult form.

Tony Jacques (County Moth Recorder) arrived in the afternoon to do a survey on what was flying or crawling during daylight hours and came across a very fine Puss Moth freshly emerged from its cocoon.



Apart from recording an impressive 70 Common Heath moths which are obviously thriving well on the remote and exposed hillside, Tony also found a Garden Tiger Moth larva.



These quite large caterpillars used to be abundant and familiar up to a couple of decades ago, in fact those of us who can remember the 50’s and 60’s may recall many fully grown ‘woolly bears’ crawling across open paths in June when they were searching for suitable places to pupate. Owing to a sharp decline for a number of reasons they’re quite a rarity these days although I have a theory (not shared by others I have to say!) that due to agricultural pressure and the increased use of sprays in our gardens they’ve simply moved habitat which is why they rarely appear in and around our gardens these days. They seem to be living the highlife on upland heath. This may be borne out by the fact that Tony trapped 6 adults last summer on the nearby and similar habitat of the Long Mynd. Time and further research will no doubt reveal more.

So, as evening approached we set-up 5 Skinner traps, a Heath and Liz’s ‘Moth-Box’ (a small box with torch), watched a fabulous sunset and then waited for the moths to arrive.


Keith, Graham, Les and Mark (West Midlands Co-ordinator for the Garden Moth Scheme).

As the night spookily closed in around us, the temperature dropped to 3.9 deg C accompanied by a light breeze, which kept most of the expected moths tucked up in their little beds and us in our Moth Pavilion!















As a further aid to keeping warm Liz wrapped herself in a big white blanket and kept eerily appearing out of the dark gloom. Scary moments indeed!



At around 12:30 am we retired to our tents leaving the gennies running which allowed a full night of recording but it was a very low count. Did the elusive Emperor appear?

Well…



No!

This was the closest we got I’m afraid… a photo taken from the Reserve’s notice board!

We did, however, manage 3 Glaucous Shears which were new to most of us and a Dark Brocade.

        
Glaucous Shears                                                                  Dark Brocade

A further 30 individuals across 5 species also popped in to say hello including Clouded Drab, Water Carpet and Muslin Moth (the latter trapped in the Moth-Box). A Hebrew Character and a Scorpion Fly were all to be found in Graham’s Heath trap and a small slug found its way into my sleeping bag!

Our bat detector also picked up a lone Common Pipistrelle which moved on swiftly presumably to a more moth-friendly environment.

We awoke to a fine morning with a stunning view east over the Long Mynd hill range and the sound of the cuckoo in nearby woodland. Les, reporting a count of zilch in his Skinner trap and still feeling the cold remarked, ‘Remind me again why we do this Paul’ to which I replied ‘It’s just such a great way to spend a Saturday night!’. He had to agree and putting aside the fact that our count was low it was still a worthwhile exercise with some useful data recorded and a pleasant evening spent chatting high on a cold, windy hill in convivial company. Must do it again sometime!
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