Friday 13 May 2016

Llanmelin Hill Fort
5th May

Went to look for butterflies at the 'fort' but only saw two which was a bit disappointing.
However I did disturb 4 moths in and around the site and chased down two.
Both were new to me and Martin has confirmed them as Little Thorn and Square Spot.
The Square Spot flew across in front of my car as I was leaving and landed upon an ivy laden entrance pillar to a farm. My first photographic shots were taken from within the car with the window down parked in the middle of the lane. I only got out when I felt confident enough that the moth had settled there to get close-up's.
Thankfully nobody wanted to get by apart from a Lycra clad cyclist, because frankly I just was not going to miss getting a picture of a new moth species.
So if you see a car parked at right angles in the middle of the road in the future, please understand, more than likely it's me grabbing a photograph!

2 comments:

  1. That Little Thorn is very nice. I used to see them in the Penyclawdd/Dingestow area quite regularly, in woodlands with no Bilberry for many miles. I assume your site also lacks Bilberry, which was thought to be this species' main foodplant for many years.

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  2. Thanks Sam.
    I've been over the site quite thoroughly and come to think about it I don't recall seeing any bilberry. It could be hidden from view but seems unlikely. I saw another Little Thorn two years ago and that was in woodland with no bilberry anywhere near it.

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