Moth trapping in October 2019 By the end of October in Scotland, moths are getting a bit thin on the ground. Nevertheless those that are around are beautiful and worth seeking out on milder nights. Which is what I did. How did my catch on the Estate at the end of October 2019 compare with …
Tag: entomology
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 …
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 …
County Moth Recorder
December. There are moths to be found, but not much in the way of variety or surprises and the disappointment of finding nothing at all is quite high. Alice has very few records from December or January. In December she occasionally records Mottled Umber and Winter Moth and during January Pale-Brindled Beauty also appears. Much …
Over the Hill
Although she doesn't appear to have strayed much beyond her corner of East Lothian, Alice's moth hunting endeavours were not confined to Whittingehame. Her specimens and notebooks indicate a few favourite haunts beyond the Estate, perhaps based on ease of access, knowing the landowner or promise of exciting discovery (considerations which are all still relevant …
Rediscovering the moths of Whittingehame 