But this is brilliant! What a fun experiment?! 🤩 A couple of years ago I met a bee enthusiast up in Dundee who was researching variations of bee species in Scotland in relation to local flora. She was primarily interested in whether the native species was being overpowered out of home and habitat. This reminds me so much of the work she was doing! Nice records - though I pity the poor white-shouldered house moth, haha! It can’t help being common!
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yep... its a great example of citizen science in action. There are hundreds of us across the country, who regularly collect data. Some people are more diligent that others... i know people who run sessions 4-5 times a week, generally I only do it once a week here, unless the weather is particularly interesting.
At the end of the year, all records are sent to regional/county moth recorders to check/approve/query records, and then that is all handed to to yearly totals. Over time we can analyse the date to see changes in population trends (spoiler, for many species, numbers are decreasing). They can also see the change in the 'range' of each species, so species seen country wide may become restricted to just the South East of England, or some other species can increase their range so they can be seen more often further north as the years pass.
All this requires raw data to analyse so thats what I help with with many others when we run these trapping sessions.
I do record other species of insect/mamaml/bird as I see them, but generally my biggest
obsessionfocus is moths.Check out this POST from last year to get an idea on what I can see in the summer
(I also take it on holiday such as HERE on the edge of Dalbeatie, near Dumfries last year)
Oh wow, @dannewton - that's truly incredible! 🤩 How amazing to think about the impact of your efforts in contributing to understanding population trends and distribution changes of various species, especially with the decline you mentioned in many... The bee-watcher up in Dundee noted the same sad fact. Native bee species are certainly on the decline - at the time I met her she hadn't managed to catch any, despite having placed bee traps all over the northern bank of the Firth of Tay.
I really think your research is amazing though... It's clearly vital, ecologically - you're essentially part of a detective team, gathering clues and insights that could help inform conservation efforts - haha. I can only imagine the wealth of knowledge and experiences you've accumulated through your observations. I wonder... what are moths attracted to, asides from "the light"? How do your readings vary if you were to put traps up in different locations in the same area - near habitats where people live, near specific plant species, near ponds or lakes. I don't know! Has your research given you any insight into this?
Also, just an observation, but aren't moths beautiful?
I've just come across your Introduction post 😅 I guess the answers to my question lie with the Official Moth Recorder. What a spreadsheet! Also, the Elephant Hawkmoth... stunning!?