East Lothian Butterflies The most interesting information in this drawer is the comments by each species describing their status in East Lothian at the time, and where they might be found. Species that are now common were rare or absent back then. Orange Tip, Peacock, Speckled Wood are all noted as ‘now extinct’ implying an …
William Evans’ Collection
If you had some space to display a small selection of moths from your local area, which species would you choose? The most colourful? Your favourites? The commonest? Drawers of insect specimens A selection of East Lothian moths Following a brief visit last year which I documented in a previous blog, I recently had the …
Digitising Alice’s Notebooks
I have completed the transfer of the moth lists in Alice's notebooks to a spreadsheet. Her notebook records have been digitised! This might sound rather dull, but it means these records are now in a format where they can be verified and submitted to the National Moth Recording Scheme. Here they will join millions of …
Restricted Moth-ing
The UK, along with countries around the world, is on "lockdown". We must avoid contact with other humans. We can only leave our homes for essential activity. Whilst necessary to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus, these orders come with many far-reaching and frightening ramifications. Social isolation, broken businesses, loss of jobs, events we …
Why Whittingehame?
This blog will document my efforts to record moths in and around Whittingehame Estate in 2019. But first some background: why have I chosen to focus some of this year’s moth-trapping efforts on this small valley in East Lothian? For some time I have been aware of Alice Blanche Balfour (1850-1936), a woman who was born …
Top of the Moths
About a year after I embarked on the task, I can finally report that I have entered the moth records from Alice's notebook into an Excel spreadsheet. Phew! Still some work to tidy it up into a more usable format, but I feel a small sense of achievement. Entries in Alice's interesting historic notebook (left) …
Early moths
Which moths did Alice find out and about in East Lothian in January, and are they still to be found in 2020? In the museum's box file containing her diary is a small soft-backed notebook. Each page has been devoted to a month of the year and lists some species of moth to look out …
2019 – Lessons learned
A year ago, as I set out to explore the life of Alice Balfour and her moths, I didn't give much thought to what I might find or where it might lead. I wanted to discover more about the moths she encountered and was interested to learn more about the pursuit of natural history in …
Macro moths – combined list
The table shows the list of moths recorded from Whittingehame Estate, East Lothian. East Lothian moths not recorded by Alice or Katty at Whittingehame are not included. AW=recorded by Alice Balfour at Whittingehame 1865-1935AEL= recorded by Alice Balfour only elsewhere in East Lothian 1865-1935 KW=recorded by Katty Baird at Whittingehame 2019KEL=recorded by Katty Baird only …
Macro Moth Lists
Species caught only by Alice at Whittingehame: 105 species * species caught by Katty elsewhere in East Lothian0 species caught in East Lothian since 2000, but not by Kattyx species not recorded in East Lothian since 1950, by anyone Common NameScientific NameOther occurrence(details in header)Ghost MothHepialus humuli*Peach BlossomThyatira batis*Common LutestringOchropacha duplaris*Convolvulus Hawk-mothAgrius convolvuli*Humming-bird Hawk-mothMacroglossum stellatarum*Bedstraw …
Rediscovering the moths of Whittingehame 