Fly by Night - Bat and Moth Night, September 2015

We had a fabulous bat and moth night on Saturday 5th September. We had a great number of visitors of the human variety, and some very obliging bat and moth visitors too.

We started the evening at Nature's Reach with a really informative presentation about bats from Morgan, our expert. We learnt all about bat behaviour and the various beasts we can find both here and worldwide.

Bat Detector (Tim Hunt)

Then we got our mitts on the super-cool bat detectors! Morgan treated us to a few different types, some relatively simple: detecting bat sounds based on the frequency they were tuned to, and some a bit more techy: capable of recording a number of different bat sounds, all at the same time, for analysis later on.

Bat Walk (Tim Hunt)

And so we were off! We walked down to the hide and within minutes, we had bats! We stood on the path by the Mini Beast Meadow listening intently to Morgan's instructions on using the detectors and were quickly interrupted by our winged friends flying overhead. We saw several pipistrelles on our way down to the lakeside hide and were treated to lots more, while shining our torches out across the water.

Toads in the hole

Before heading back up to see what moths were about, volunteer (and regular blogger) Tim spotted some more obliging beasts hanging out in the bee bank. We saw the unlikely trio of two newts and a toad sharing a hidey hole and plenty more scattered about the slope.

Moth Trap (Tim Hunt)

On our return to the visitor centre, butterfly and moth expert, Mike gave a brief talk on what we'd be likely to find and gave some great tips on identification. Then it was off out to the moth traps. We were quite early for our winged friends but still managed to see a good number.

Large yellow underwings were out in force and we had a fabulous swallow prominent. Small square-spots made a good showing, as well as a silver y, a couple of copper underwings and old ladys.

Large Yellow Underwing (Chris Shields www.rspb-images.co.uk)

We also had phoenix, flame shoulder, white shouldered house moth, double sqaure-spot, setaceous hebrew character, angle shades, six-striped rustic, common rustic and flounced rustic.

A fantastic night was had by all and we can't wait for the next one! A big thank you to Morgan, our bat expert, and our brilliant team of moth-ers for making it possible.

Jenny, Connecting People and Nature Intern.

Fly by Night - 5 Fun Facts about Moths

Think moths are just brown and grey creatures that come out at night, hanging around your bathroom light? Think again! Moths are closely related to butterflies and can be just as colourful and interesting. Join us for a night of moth musing (and bat business) and we’ll show you just how exciting the winged creatures can be.

Scarlet Tiger Moth (JS)

Our Fly by Night Bat and Moth Night event is on Saturday 5^th September from 7pm. To get you in the mood, here are 5 fun facts all about moths...

1. There are over 2500 species of moth in Britain alone. They can be described as macro or micro (big or small) and fly both at night and in the daytime.

Buff Tip Moth (JS)

2. Moths are super-good at camouflage and adapting to their environment. The buff tip moth is (almost) indistinguishable from it’s favourite bit of bark – silver birch. And the peppered moth darkened in colour over time, evolving to blend in with the smoky skies of the industrial revolution. Charles Darwin even used it as evidence in his theory of evolution!

Peppered Moth perfectly camouflaged (Tom Marshall, www.rspb-images.com)

3. Some male moths can detect a female from up to 7 miles away. They do this by using their antennae to smell hormones released by the female. And they'll fly all that way to find them!

4. Moths don’t just stick to one part of the world either. ‘Migrant’ moths can fly to Britain from overseas – even as far as the Mediterranean. The silver y moth will travel between 300 and 400km to reach our shores!

Silver Y Moth (Chris Shields, www.rspb-images.com)

5. Some moths don’t have mouths! Once they’ve emerged as winged adults, their only purpose is to lay eggs, so there’s no need for them to eat. One of these species is the atlas moth, one of the largest species of moth in the world. Fancy that.

If you’d like to learn more about moths and study some specimens for yourself, come along to our bat and moth night and see the species that patrol our reserve. Our brilliant volunteers and the Sandwell Valley Naturalists will be on hand to help identify and answer any questions you have, not to mention, there’ll be hot chocolate...

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our blog on moths and that you can join us for the evening. Have you found any in your own garden? Or your house? Do you have a favourite moth? We’d love you to share some photos on our social media pages too! Find us on Facebook HERE and on Twitter HERE.

For more information about our Bat and Moth Night click HERE or call RSPB Sandwell Valley on 0121 357 7395.

Jenny

(Connecting People and Nature Intern)