Hail to the Emperor!

 Almost a year since my last blog, notwithstanding the trials and tribulations of Covid I just couldn't find the wherewithal to set pen to paper. Today I made my first proper foray into the field for many a long month. Way back in 2019 I planned that I would have a crack at finding and photographing Clearwing moths. Purchasing a full set of pheromone lures plus an additional lure for the Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia)  from Anglian Lepidopterist Supplies and several months researching likely sites I came up with a cunning plan. Then - all stop - lockdowns galore - no field trips - no photos and no blogs.

However, today all that changed as Martin and I visited a "Sussex Common" armed with two lures and a load of hope. I had read accounts of people using the lure and making irritating reports such as "I opened the lure and ten minutes later the moth magically appeared". Fat chance I thought but I was proved wrong, as we strolled along a track, lures clipped to our camera bags, two moths appeared, almost on the dot of the stated time. One disappeared after a short time but the other remained and perched nearby. Martin found it and of course it was in a position that was impossible for photography so the "moth wrangler" did the business and cajoled it  into resting in a more accessible spot. Great elation at achieving our goal, and as we progressed around the Common we were visited by even more and at one stage we had five in view at the same time.

Using the lure proved to be a steep learning curve, we will have to adapt our methods to be more moth and photographer friendly. The moths are only fooled for a relatively short time, driven to distraction by the pheromone it soon becomes apparent to the moth that there isn't actually a receptive female present. There are none of the added cues that a live moth provides such as movements and posture, so the male drifts off and does not return.


A big thankyou to Martin for helping me get back out there, on the way home I compared the day with having a "brain flush" Several hours of concentrated moth hunting and inane chat had removed a huge amount of mental clutter. I am not given to poetry but to quote Fernando Pessoa, as everyone does, "It's been a long time since I have been me."


Perhaps a go at the Large Red-belted Clearwing next, it has a penchant for birch stumps so there are some Sussex Commons and woodlands worth a visit and maybe another go at getting some improved Emperor photographs.


I hadn't totally given up on the natural world as I have run the moth trap in the garden during the lockdown, never a productive site and this year, so far, has been no exception. A Common Plume was hiding on a fence post, almost the same colour as the wood but definitely worth snapping.

Reports of White-tailed Eagles wandering around Sussex coastal sites have caused me to spend far too much time looking toward the heavens. This paid off with a fairly good sighting of a large female Sparrowhawk that frequents the neighbourhood. Sadly no sign of the eagle - yet.