The Sefton Coast
EVEN in the most urban of settings, once the sun sinks and night falls they come. The glare catching their wings as they flicker towards an outside light or better still a bright specialised bulb is a charged moment – you never know what is going to emerge from the gloom.
The wonder and beauty of moths is that you can encounter them anywhere from the most built-up areas to the open landscape of the coast.
And while a search for species at night using a moth trap or outside light always carries with it a sense of mystery and excitement, there are plenty of species that can be encountered during daylight hours, especially in a magnificent environment like the Sefton Coast.
Day-time flyers like White Satin Moth, Cinnabar Moth or the specialised and range-restricted Forester are treats on spring and summer days, but it is those fluttering, flickering creatures of the night that are perhaps the most exciting.
From tiny micro-moths to big, powerful hawkmoths, they can turn up anywhere, and favour certain foodplants in the same way that many insects do.
Moths are, after all, one of our most important pollinators.
Some folk profess an aversion to them, but I’ve never really understood that – they are just butterflies that generally fly at night and have feathery rather than stalk-like antennae.
Wonderful beasts.
Some are simply fascinating – the Angle Shades is a common species that rolls its wings up when at rest, the Spectacle is another regular that appears to be wearing a top hat and spectacles (!), while the Gold Spot is simply exquisite.
Poplar, Eyed, Lime and Elephant Hawkmoths are all fairly large species that are reasonably common throughout Sefton.
Many of the species that lurk in the dune system are rare and adapted to living in a world of sand and Marram Grass, like the Sand Dart.
At first glance they may look dowdy but their camouflage is a work of subtle art.
These species are as reliant on the dune system as Sefton’s Natterjacks and Sand Lizards.
I’ve been regularly moth-trapping for about 20 years now, but the thrill of discovery the morning after the night before never dims.
Sorting through the species in the trap before releasing them safely the next evening is always a buzz.
Our long-suffering neighbours are well-used to the bright glare of the trap running on summer evenings (more effective than any security light), while a normal outside light in a yard can also bring in moths to rest on nearby walls.
Recent sessions have been a bit quiet, but there is always the chance of something surprising – some moths can be blown along much like migrant birds, with the appearance of Silver Y moths in autumn usually an indicator that things are on the move.
Other wanderers like the wonderful Hummingbird Hawkmoth have become resident now and while still scarce can sometimes be found zooming around geraniums or buddleia on calm summer evenings.
John works for Green Sefton, the Sefton Council service that brings together the coast & countryside, parks & green spaces, flooding & coastal erosion, risk management and grounds maintenance teams for a joined-up approach to the vital management, development and oversight of Sefton’s beautiful coastline, parks and green spaces. This column looks at the flora, fauna and history of the coastline, and the work carried out to protect it.