My Blog - Jeff Clarke

Nights and Days   {yoogallery src=[/images/stories/blog/nightsanddays]} All images unless otherwise stated © Jeff Clarke 2010 The last week or two has been slightly manic with a variety of public events, helping out the Cheshire Wildlife Trust (CWT) at the RHS show at Tatton Park, surveys and the small matter of my daughter's eighteenth birthday. This left me with little time for updating my blog.Risley Moss Action Group (RIMAG) help to support the management of this rare lowland bog and they had invited me to put on a moth trapping evening for them. It turned out to be a perfect night and we recorded 125 species in total, pretty remarkable for a public event. I was lucky enough to accompanied by Paul Hill who runs Bioquip and between ...

The Sweet Smell of Success   {yoogallery src=[/images/stories/blog/clearwings]} All images unless otherwise stated © Jeff Clarke 2010 Clearwing moths are species very much sought after by lepidopterists. They have an aura and a caché that many other moth families lack. They specialise in imitating wasps. This presumably provies some degree of protection from potential bird predators. In other words they are Batesian mimics. They themselves are probably harmeless but they pretend to be something altogether more potent in the punch-packing stakes. The problem with clearwings is that they also seem to possess a Klingon-cloaking mechanism. They are almost impossible to find, even when they occur in good numbers at a known location. There a...

Now You See Me, Now You Don't! {yoogallery src=[/images/stories/blog/mimics]} All images © Jeff Clarke 2010 If I'm ever feeling down (which is rare), just a few minutes communing with nature has the most remarkable restorative effect on my mood and outlook on life.The riot of colour in a summer meadow; the soporific hum of bees collecting pollen; screaming swifts splitting the blue in a joyous skyride; butterflies clinging to a flower head at dawn, laden with condensed water droplets; amphibians released by a deluge at the break of a drought. Being privileged to witness these things enriches my life more than any amount of money could ever do. Just looking up into the night sky and seeing the endless array of stars can blow your mind and ye...

Moth Mega-Month {yoogallery src=[/images/stories/blog/mothmonth]} All images © Jeff Clarke 2010 From the middle of June to the middle of July is the absolute peak of the year for the sheer variety and volume, of moth species on the wing. If you ever want to experience a moth trapping session then this is the time to do it; be warned though, on the best nights it can be a little overwhelming for beginners.In the past few days I've trapped a variety of sites apart from my own garden, including a mountain pass in North Wales,  heathland near Wilmslow and dairy pasture land near the Shropshire Union Canal at Chester. Above you will see a variety of images taken in the recent days which prove that a) not all moths are brown; and b) that wit...

Magnificent Seven {yoogallery src=[/images/stories/blog/hypnorum]} All images © Jeff Clarke 2010 Today was a gloriously sunny one and I was working from home carrying out preparations for future events. I'm not very good at paperwork on sunny days and periodically I would head for the garden in pursuit of a natural high. A frenzy of bee activity on a neighbours Hebe attracted my attention and within a few minutes I'd notched up a creditable 4 species, Buff-tailed, White tailed, Red tailed and Early respectively. A distinctive tan, black and white bumblebee grabbed my attention and a few seconds later I was able to confirm my first Cheshire Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum. All thoughts of preprations were forgotten as I searched for my camera...