10ksq Mothing

I recently asked my County Moth Recorder, Jim Wheeler, if there was a simple, easy way for me to know how many 'firsts' I've had for the 10ksq where I live. Turns out there wasn't, but he decided to have a play and created a brand new feature for the already superb, NorfolkMoths website - "first for hectad."

'My' 10ksq:

We've lived here for nearly 4yrs now and I was pleasantly surprised at just how many species I've managed to add to the records for this small area. I want to stress now, however, that this is by no means a trumpet blowing exercise on my behalf, but more just how important your Moth records are.

With the exception of a single record for Silver Y in 1930, the earliest records in my square are from 1986 - not THAT long ago in the grand scheme of things. 
With common species like:

• Nut-tree Tussock not recorded until 2007,
• Rustic Shoulder Knot also 2007,
• Angle Shades not 'til 1994,
• Poplar Grey 2007,

 etc, etc, you get the idea and the point I'm making, that my square (as well as others, I'm sure) has been under-recorded. 
That said, I wont lie when I say I do feel a sense of achievement that of the 860 species recorded within TF81, some 319 - or 37% of them are firsts from my trapping, luring, trunking, torching, car headlighting and dissecting efforts. Even if a lot of them are 'just' gap filling records, it's all good data and rewarding. 

A side mission for this year will be to fill in the missing dots in my hectad, something that'll make me try different spots I would've otherwise not bothered about. Should be fun!

So with Spring around the corner - get out there and get Moth-ing people!!