The rain started as a drizzle just as we were setting up and then just got worse! It never really stopped from 8pm and was still there when we left at midnight, so the moth count was dismally low.
But there were some personal successes: I didn't lose my car keys and I only managed to leave one item behind on site; my big black Audi umbrella, so if anyone sees it rolling around somewhere you'll know whose it is!
We had 6 traps out last night and I'm guessing there were less than 50 moths trapped between us - if you could all let me have your very small list asap I'll pop them all into a spreadsheet and publish them out once Tony has verified everything, which should take him all of 30 seconds.
Disappointing for 2 of our visitors who were new to an organised (organised?) moth night - Andy and Janet, but Rosemary and David from Friends of Apley Castle looked after us and kept our spirits up by feeding us some of Rosemary's home-baked fayre - those feta cheese with mint mini-pasties and sponge cake sumptously filled with damson jam were fabulously delicious! And the wine - oh yes - sitting under the gazebo eating and drinking with the rain descending heavily, we almost forgot what we were there for!
There were a couple of moth highlights with Liz's lovely Buff Arches
and an Elephant Hawkmoth, although quite a common species to traps at this time of the year, I don't think any of us were expecting to see it on such an awful night, but it arrived, shortly before I called it a day, in Tony's trap.
Other than that and a few Small Fan-footed Waves (and waves are the last thing you want to see when it's raining heavily), a miscellany of micro moths and a handful of macros, there was not a great deal more to report, apart from Keith's really trendy hat of course, Liz's random photos of people and moths, Andrew's motorbike and Nigel's new home-made trap. I'm hoping the weather hasn't put Nigel off entirely - it was only his second night out with us over four years - it's not always like this Nigel - honestly - sometimes it's warm and dry with more moths than you can shake a trendy hat at.
Anyway, it was a great get-together, with lots of miscellaneous chat, a bit of banter, food and wine - who needs yet another comfy night in watching reality TV when you can escape to the woods even if it is in the very wet stuff!
Catch you all soon
Paul Watts
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