A greenhorn lepidopterist at large in suburban London

Berrylands Station is on the London Waterloo to Hampton Court line between New Malden and Surbiton, a 25 minute train journey from central London. I became aware of its potential for attracting moths in late August 2008. The station is situated on an embankment with the Hogsmill Sewage Farm directly to the north and a typical mix of suburban houses and gardens to the south. The elevated aspect of the station and the comparative lack of domestic and street lighting in the immediate area mean that it acts like a huge moth trap, there are white-painted covered waiting areas and staircases on both platforms, these are illuminated at night and most of the moths are found in these areas. What follows is my attempt as a novice lepidopterist to record and catalogue all the macro moths I encounter on my daily commute to work along with the occasional "awayday" in search of other British lepidoptera .

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Small Tortoiseshell


Whilst at work back in July I found this pristine Small Tortoiseshell sunning itself on the side of a metal container, I managed one shot before it flew off but I think it's come out quite well. It seems that Small Tortoiseshells are making a comeback after a couple of years when they seemed to be in real trouble; the demise of the last few years has made me appreciate what a beautiful butterfly it is and that I should never take such a thing for granted.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

White Admiral

I spent a few hours last Sunday wandering the sunlit rides of the wonderfully named Mad Bess Wood near Ruislip in the company of one of our most beautiful butterflies, the White Admiral. Many other butterflies were on the wing including my first Gatekeepers of the year and a solitary Purple Hairstreak but the White Admirals stole the show, delicately gliding down from the treetops to take a sip of nectar from a bramble blossom or engaging in a brief dogfight with a belligerent Speckled Wood, they seem at the same time impossibly exotic and yet as quintessentially English as the oaks they inhabit; a fine way to pass the time on a glorious summer afternoon.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Silver-studded Blue







A brief visit to an area of remnant heathland produced these images of one of the more enigmatic butterflies to occur in the London Area, needless to say it was a new species for me. The day was somewhat overcast if a bit muggy which helped to keep the butterflies a little torpid but still lively enough to pose obligingly; a little more sun and they would have been elusive sprites dashing above the heather, a little less and they would not have shown at all.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Awayday: Perivale Wood, June 5th 2010

Mullein Wave (Scopula marginepunctata) 05:06:2010.


Orange Footman (Eilema sororcula) 05:06;2010.


Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) 05:06:2010.


Ingrailed Clay (Diarsia mendica) 05:06:2010.


Ingrailed Clay (Diarsia mendica) 05:06:2010.



A mini heatwave has descended on London making mothing at the station a very hit and miss affair, the Tuesday after the bank holiday (June 1st) produced 11 moths of eight species including four year ticks; Light Emerald, Cinnabar, Willow Beauty and Silver Y. The next day produced two new moths for the Station, Mottled Pug and Pebble-hook Tip which was also a lifer for me; on Thursday only five moths were recorded but two of these were year ticks, Dwarf Cream Wave and Waved Umber; by Friday things had really dried up and I struggled to find three moths, two of which had been in situ from at least the previous day; so on Saturday morning in glorious sunshine I headed for Perivale Wood in anticipation of some good mothing. London Transport did it's best to thwart my efforts to reach Perivale, terminating trains at North Acton and providing a replacement bus service, in the event this worked in my favour as I found a pristine Mullein Wave resting on the station wall at North Acton, only my third record of this somewhat patchily distributed scopula, two of which have been at stations. Also noted at North Acton was a Lesser Whitethroat incessantly singing from the shallow bramble covered embankment by the eastbound platform. So on to Perivale, several traps had been run through the night and one was about to be decanted as I arrived; Common White Wave seemed to be the most numerous species followed by a bewildering variety of Ingrailed Clays, two of which are shown here. the clay was a new moth for me as were Orange Footman, Silver-ground Carpet and Green Silver-lines, I couldn't count a dead Sandy Carpet which was probably the victim of a previous session, but I was more than happy with four new moths. Other moths noted were Common Swift, Willow Beauty, Buff Ermine, Setaceous Hebrew Character and Broken-barred Carpet. Amongst all the tounge-twisting Latin only micros noted, one stood out, the sublimely beautiful Nemophora degeerella, a gold-banded gem to brighten any morning.

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Awayday: Bookham Common, May 8th 2010

Great Prominent (Peridea anceps) 08:05:2010


Lesser Swallow Prominent (Pheosia gnoma) 08:05:2010


Chocolate Tip (Clostera curtula) 08:05:2010


Waved Umber (Menophra abruptaria) 08:05:2010


Lunar Marbled Brown (Drymonia ruficornis) 08:05:2010


The recent weather has not been too good for moths so as I headed to Bookham Common on Saturday morning I really did not know what to expect. On arrival at Bookham station, a quaint late Victorian redbrick edifice, I undertook an extensive search for moths but I only managed to find a single Waved Umber, so on to the London Natural History Society's hut on the common where the nights catch was to be examined. By all accounts it was not a good haul, some 37 moths of 18 species but no less than nine of these were new for me; Mottled and Oak Tree Pugs, Great and Lesser Swallow Prominents, Lunar Marbled Brown, Red Twin-spot and Water Carpets, Seraphim and Frosted Green. Three species of orthosia were also noted, Clouded Drab, Common Quaker and Hebrew Character, all of which should have been over by now. Bookham Common is usually a good place for warblers, but apart from a few low key Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs the scrub was quiet, this nagging north-easterly wind is holding up the birds as well as the moths, I hope it changes and warms up before National Moth Night next Saturday.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Moth magic

Oak Beauty (Biston strataria) 13: 04: 2010


I arrived at Waterloo station this morning to find that my usual train was delayed so I decided to take a different route, more convoluted, but better than hanging around in commuter hell. I could have alighted at any one of five stations to make my connection but I decided on Earlsfield, probably subconsciously because it delivered a cracking Small Ranunculus last year. As the doors opened I instantly saw the pictured Oak Beauty just resting on the platform right in front of me; I had a pot in my pocket and it was the work of seconds to secure the prize, a new moth for me and a godsmackingly gorgeous one, but I just can't get over the series of events that led me to this moth, I'm not complaining, it just feels a bit odd that's all.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Awayday: Perivale Wood, April 2nd 2010

Brindled Beauty (Lycia hirtaria) 02:04:2010


With just three moths recorded at the station so far this year, It was with some anticipation that I headed for Perivale Wood at the obscenely early hour of 5 a m on Good Friday. Andy and David have been trapping in the wood for some time and were running four traps; we met up at 6:30 along with Fiona and Max from Birdguides and Steve Spooner, another relative novice moth-er like myself, but armed with bags of enthusiasm. It turned into a bit of an orthosia fest with 143 moths of five species recorded, broken down as follows: 69 Common Quaker, 56 Small Quaker, 12 Hebrew Character, 4 Clouded Drab and 2 Twin-spotted Quaker. The rest of the haul was 2 Brindled Beauty (a new moth for me), 1 Satellite, 2 Chestnut, 2 Brindled Pug and 2 Grey Shoulder-knot. All in all a fine haul and more that enough to keep me going until the moths start to appear at Berrylands.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Mothing Year at Berrylands: 2009

Cypress Pug (Eupithecia phoeniceata) 11:08:2009


As 2009 was the first complete year of mothing at Berrylands Station I decided to cover the site as comprehensively as I could, arriving an hour before work on most days so that I could thoroughly investigate both platforms, waiting areas, staircases and the booking hall area; I had no idea what would constitute a good year list as I had never done anything like this before, but using Colin Plant's indispensable Larger Moths of the London Area as my guide I settled on a figure of between 60 and 70 species, in the event I recorded 102 species, way beyond my original estimate, with at least two very notable moths recorded along with the more expected species. The following account lists only the first dates for all macro moths recorded at the station during 2009, for a more comprehensive list have a look at the preceding post which lists first, last and peak count dates, this systematic list is an ongoing project and will be updated as and when new moths are noted.

February 3rd will be remembered as the morning after the heaviest snowfall in London for almost 20 years and finding a moth was the last thing on my mind, luckily my first Spring Usher had parked itself on the Londonbound staircase wall where I couldn't fail to see it, also in February a Dotted Border put in an appearance on the 21st and a very smart March Mothshowed up on the 26th. The first moths of March arrived on the 2nd, two orthosias that both appeared to be Common Quakers, closer inspection however revealed one of them to be slightly smaller and paler with noticeably rounded wingtips, I thought this might be a Small Quaker so I posted a photo on Back Garden Moths where my suspicion was confirmed; that was it for March until a well-marked Double-striped Pug turned up on the 30th followed by aHebrew Character on the 31st. A steady stream of moths appeared during April starting with an Early Grey on the 2nd and two Early Thorns on the 6th, an extremely dark orthosia on the 13th was identified as a Clouded Drab, a Pale Mottled Willow turned up on the 17th, aBrimstone Moth and a Spectacle on the 21st and the last moths of the month, a Red-green Carpet and an Angle Shades both put in an appearance on the 23rd. May was an excellent month with 17 new moths recorded, all but three of them in the last two weeks; a Yellow-barred Brindle on the 4th, a Common Swift on the 5th and a Figure of Eighty on the 11th followed by a Common Wave and a Muslin Moth on the 15th, a Common Marbled Carpet and a Waved Umber on the 18th, a Pale Tussock on the 21st, a White Ermine and a Knot Grass on the 23rd and a Green Carpet on the 24th; only two species of hawkmoth were recorded during the year, Poplar Hawkmoth and Lime Hawkmoth and they both turned up on the 25th along with a Small Dusty Wave; a Burnished Brass showed up on the 26th, a Silver Y on the 28th and the last moth of the month and the best of the year so far, a pristine Toadflax Brocade on the 29th. Thirty four species were recorded in June, double the number of the previous month, Light Emerald and Cinnabar on the 1st, Small Blood-vein,Garden Carpet, Bright-line Brown-eye and Snout on the 3rd, Willow Beauty, Straw Dot and a Riband Wave of the unbanded form remutata on the 4th; then there was nothing new until a Heart and Dart on the 8th, Common Emerald and Buff Ermine on the 10th,Uncertain on the 11th, Blotched Emerald, Flame Shoulder and Treble Lines on the 12th, then another barren period of three days until a Least Carpet two Barred Straws and aTreble Brown Spot on the 16th, a Single-dotted Wave on the 17th, a Varied Coronetand a Blue-Bordered Carpet of the nominate form rubiginata on the 18th and a Light Arches on the 19th, then nothing new until the 22nd when a Dwarf Cream Wave, a Freyer's Pug, a Brown Silver-line and a Common Footman were recorded; thereafter things slowed down a little with a Common White Wave and a Herald on the 23rd, a Scalloped Oak and a Flame on the 24th, a Clay and a Smoky Wainscot on the 25th with the best moth of the month, an Olive, arriving on the 30th. After the riches of June, July was a comparatively quiet month with only 12 new moths recorded, Small Emerald and Swallow-tailed Mothshowed up on the 1st, a Dun-bar and an Old Lady (flying like a bat up the Londonbound staircase) on the 3rd, a Marbled Beauty on the 6th and a Yellow-tail on the 8th; the next week was very slow with just a Scarce Silver-lines on the 14th followed by a Large Yellow Underwing on the 17th; a very nice Black Arches showed up on the 24th along with a Dingy Footman, which, in terms of rarity should have been the moth of the month but a Chocolate-tip on the 27th got that accolade because it looked so smart, the last moth of the month was aSvensson's Copper Underwing, also on the 27th. August was another pedestrian month with only 11 species recorded, a Red Underwing on the 3rd followed by a Yellow Shell on the 4th, then nothing until the 11th when arguably the moth of the year turned up in the shape of a pristine Cypress Pug; an Orange Swift and a Shuttle-shaped Dart appeared on the 14th with a Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and a Garden Tiger on the 17th; the most problematic moth of the year turned up on the 19th, a Common Rustic agg. not specifically identifiable without dissection and a genitalia examination, not my thing at all; aSquare-spot Rustic appeared on the 25th, a Lime-speck Pug on the 26th and the last moth of the month, a Maiden's Blush on the 28th. A Flounced Rustic on the 3rd was the first of only ten new species for September, autumn has arrived and it will be a game of diminishing returns from here until the end of the year; a Lesser Yellow Underwing, the third noctuaspecies of the year, turned up on the 8th, then nothing until the only Copper Underwing of the year on the 16th followed by a Large Ranunculus on the 17th; nearly a week passed before a Beaded Chestnut turned up on the 23rd followed by a Mallow and a Cabbage Moth on the 24th, a Brindled Green and a Blair's Shoulder-knot on the 25th with aLunar Underwing the last moth of the month on the 28th. The rest of the year was very quiet with only three new moths recorded; a Lesser Treble-bar on October 6th, a Feathered Thorn on November 9th and an aptly named Winter Moth on November 17th.

I also managed to do some mothing at other stations on the Hampton Court line, notably Earlsfield and Raynes Park, none of these had the same combination of features that makes Berrylands so good. There were one or two surprises, but I only recorded five moths that were not found at Berrylands; a white-spotted Satellite was actually on the train to work on January 19th, and although the train stopped at Berrylands the moth did not alight there so technically it was not on the station, a Pale Brindled Beauty was at Raynes Park on February 26th, this is a species I fully expected to find at Berrylands and it surely won't be too long before I do; Raynes Park also delivered a somewhat tatty Pale Pinion on April 10th; a Miller was at Earlsfield on May 26th and a pristine Small Ranunculus was there on June 26th, a moth that has started to re-colonise after becoming extinct in Britain during 1951.
Small Ranunculus next to its illustration in Townsend, Waring and Lewington, I think this shows perfectly what a brilliant guide it is.