Friday 22nd July saw a great flurry of activity at Ballachurry Reserve in anticipation of the Bat Walk and Moth Trapping event that was to be held there that evening. I arrived mid-afternoon armed with shears and secateurs ready to do any necessary cutting back of vegetation brought down across the paths by the storm earlier in the week. I was soon joined by Janet & Guy Thompson who were kindly loaning us a Scout tent for the evening's refreshment area.
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| Putting up the tent |
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| Hammering in the pegs |
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| All ready and waiting |
I had already noticed the electric cables draped through the bracken ready to power up the moth traps & towards evening Ian Scott, Moth Recorder for the IOM, arrived with his 3 traps. These were kindly supplemented by a further trap from Louise Samson.
As the sun set at 9.30pm, people began to arrive at the reserve and our interesting & exciting evening could begin
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| Gathering to listen to the talk on bats |
Jill & Bill Dunlop from the Manx Bat Group gave us a short talk about bats and bat detectors. They handed out the detectors they were kindly loaning us, and we set off towards the area known as The Orchard. Although just outside the reserve area, it is where most bats were detected last September and landowners, Pam & Stan Clucas, had very kindly given us permission to go through once more.
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| Jill telling us about bats.... |
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| and Bill telling us about detectors. |
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| We set off to search for bats |
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| In the Orchard |
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| Detectors start clicking |
It was by now about 10pm and very soon the detectors began clicking away telling us there were Pipistrelle bats in the area. Looking up we spotted them silhouetted against the darkening sky through the trees. Fast flying, it proved impossible to photograph them with the little pocket camera I had with me. All around me there were gasps of excitement as people spotted the bats, often the first they had ever seen. What a thrill for all concerned!
As darkness fell we wandered back to the tent for tea and hot chocolate before moving on to the second event of the evening. While we sipped our hot drinks Ian Scott talked about moths and how moth traps work, then ( in true Blue Peter style!) showed us "some he had caught earlier" in Colby the previous night. Some were large such as the Emerald Moth, others absolutely minute and still to be identified.
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| Torchlight refreshments...... |
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| ....appreciated by all. |
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| Ian Scott taking questions about moths |
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| Ballachurry Lecture Theatre! |
Drinks finished, we headed back out into the darkness with our torches, following Ian to each moth trap in turn.
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| Moth trap with top removed showing egg boxes where the moths accumulate. |
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| The first few moths to be caught |
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| We gather round the egg boxes to see what has come in |
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| Ian starts identifying the moths for us |
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| Ian points out and names the moths |
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| Most are happy to sit on our hands.... |
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| ....and even land on our clothing! |
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| A beautiful Swallowtail moth is one of the first to be handed round |
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| These 2 are Common Wainscot moths |
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| Ruby tiger - I think? |
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| I'll caption these once I've checked with Ian |
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| Another Swallowtail |
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| To be captioned later |
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| Large Yellow Underwing? |
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| Yet another Swallowtail and a Common Footman? |
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| Again, I'll caption later |
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| We were all keen to take photos |
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| Brimstone |
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| To be captioned later |
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| Three in a row |
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| My favourite of the evening - the Peppered Moth. |
It was amazing how quickly the time flew by and all too soon it was Midnight and time to head homewards.
We had earlier thanked the Bat Group leaders and Ian Scott for such an exceptional evening and the Southern Group Committee would also like to thank all our visitors for their generosity with the collecting boxes. Donations will be made to the event leaders, with the residue going to the Manx Wildlife Trust. Thanks also to the Kelly family for the refreshments, the Thompson family for the tent and to Louise Samson for the additional moth trap and her identification skills. Many thanks too to the Clucas family for allowing us into the Orchard.
Ian Scott has kindly sent me the list of moths recorded - a total of 39 species.
Beautiful plume
Mother of pearl
Rush veneer
Bee moth
Agapeta hamana
Brown house moth
Common emerald
Riband wave
Small fan-footed wave
Shaded broad-bar
Common carpet
July highflyer
Rivulet
Foxglove pug
Clouded border
Brimstone moth
Swallow-tailed moth
Peppered moth
Mottled beauty
Brussels lace
Light emerald
Coxcomb prominent
Iron prominent
Common footman
Buff ermine
Ruby tiger
Crescent dart
Large yellow underwing
Lesser broad bordered yellow underwing
True lovers knot
Square-spot rustic
Dark Arches
Common rustic
Plain Golden Y
Beautiful Golden Y
Bright line brown eye
Common wainscot
Clay
Ingrailed clay
The Brussels lace is a nice record as it has only been recorded from four other sites on the Island since 1912
Having wandered round Ballachurry almost weekly for several years now I feel I know most of its inhabitants fairly well, but I felt very privileged to see all these nocturnal creatures which also call the Reserve home.
Once again, a really big thank you to everyone who made this special event possible and to those who came along to enjoy the experience with us.
