Saturday 21 July 



The Society's annual moth-trapping night was held on Saturday 21 July at Withymead Nature 

 Reserve, on the north bank of the Thames between Goring and South Stoke. Norman Hall was unable 

 to come on the Saturday night. Instead, he stayed overnight on Friday 20 July and ran 3 traps in the 

 area around the Visitor Centre. Norman had more than 90 different species of moth in his traps and 

 most of the micro-moths in the combined list were identified by him. Highlights of Norman's catch 

 included Green Arches Anaplectoides prasina, the large pure white White Satin Moth Leucoma salicis 

 and an impressively large Privet Hawkmoth Sphinx ligustri. On the Saturday night, Roy Dobson ran a 

 mercury light over a sheet by the Visitor Centre and a light trap in the nearby orchard. Roy's catch 

 included Common Footman Eilema lurideola, Scarce Footman E. complana and Dingy Footman £. 

 griseola moths. Peter Holland ran a trap with a blended bulb near the Visitor Centre and a Heath trap 

 on the boardwalk through the reed bed. This is where he took the star moth of the night, a Dotted Fan- 

 foot Macrochilo cribrumalis, the first recorded specimen for VC23 Oxfordshire. Dotted Fan-foot is a 

 moth which is currently expanding its range into our region from the south-east. The first 

 Buckinghamshire specimen was recorded in the east of the county near Chorleywood in 2009. The 

 first Berkshire specimen was recorded in Windsor Forest in 2010, followed by 2 more records from a 

 Maidenhead garden in 2011. 



Jan Haseler ran 3 lights. The first was a mercury vapour light over a sheet at the south-west corner of 

 the boardwalk through the reed bed. The second was an actinic light on a Skinner trap on a platform 

 above the north-west comer of the boardwalk, overlooking the adjacent even bigger area of reed bed 

 which stretches towards South Stoke and is owned by one of the Oxford colleges. The third was a 

 mercury vapour light on a Robinson trap under a big oak in the adjacent woodland. The catch included 

 several Large Twin-spot Carpets Xanthorhoe quadrifasiata and a single Balsam Carpet X. biriviata. 

 The former were noticeably larger, while the Balsam Carpet had a smooth basal edge to the central 

 cross-band. The Balsam Carpet is another moth which is expanding its range from the south-east. The 

 Crescent Celaena leucostigma, a reed bed specialist, was another highlight here. Next morning, a few 

 members came along to view a selection of the moths. They sat in the sunshine outside the Visitor 

 Centre and were able tc compare the different Footman species and the various Carpets. The Poplar 

 Hawkmoth Laothoe populi and Privet Hawkmoth posed obligingly for photographs on the adjacent 

 Rosebay Willowherb Chamerion angustifolium flowers. Warden Keith Tomey then kindly led a walk 

 round the reserve, during which the reed bed moths were released at the trapping site. We would like 

 to thank Keith and Dorothy Tomey for their hospitality (especially the coffee and cakes!). 



Saturday 28 July 



On Saturday 28 July, the weather was fine and cool, just right for a country walk. 24 members and 

 guests met in Ferry Lane, Medmenham for a very varied walk, led by Chris Bucke, in an area 

 dominated by the River Thames and by past human activity. The first habitat encountered was water 

 meadow. A ditch at the start of the walk provided a good show of Water Plantain Alisma plantago- 

 aquatica and the water meadow proved very species rich with Ragged Robin Lychnis flos-cuculi 

 persisting later than expected and Marsh Valerian Valeriana dioica and Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia 

 vulgaris attracting particular attention. The braver members of the party detected colonies of non- 

 stinging Nettles Urtica dioica subsp. galeopsifolia. Hobbies were noted hunting dragonflies and 

 damselflies, apparently successfully. On leaving the water meadow, there was an abrupt change of 

 habitat. The path had a steep chalk cliff on one side and swampy areas on the other. The latter were 

 once part of the pleasure grounds of the Danesfield Hotel and the area was dominated by alien 

 species, at least three bamboos and planted trees and shrubs. It has a very fine colony of Loddon Lily 

 Leucojum aestivum visible in the spring. The chalk slopes had Box Buxus sempervirens reproducing 

 vigorously but the most conspicuous species was Hart's-tongue Fern Asplenium scolopendrium in 

 great quantities. Some of these had fronds that split into two at the tip. The path climbed and passed 

 through a tunnel to a shady area where there was a colony of Nettle-leaved Bellflower Campanula 

 trachelium, some of which were a very attractive white-flowered variant. It emerged into species-rich 

 dry chalk grassland. This did not provide especial rarities but was very interesting because different 

 areas seemed rich in different species: a large colony of Goat's-rue Galega officinalis attracted 

 attention, as did Burnet-saxifrage Pimpinella saxifraga and Common Restharrow Ononis repens, both 

 of these apparently confined to particular areas. The whole area was probably part of the pleasure 

 grounds of the Danesfield Hotel, so the different areas may have been subject to different cultural 



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