Eastern Wood-Pewee – Pro Bug-eater!
If you love birds and butterflies – why not give moths a try? The Ohio Birdfreaks took on the night life by attending a Mothing event at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) led by Kenn Kaufman. The BSBO joined the Toledo Naturalists’ Association (TNA) to help us learn how to go “Mothing” and it was a blast!
Kim Kaufman (BSBO) and Sherrie Duris (TNA) talk Moths
The equipment needed is mimimal. We had black lights, mercury vapor lamps, a white tent wall and moth bait. Moth bait is simple to make and I finally remembered to write down the recipe. Brown sugar, rotten bananas and stale (cheap) beer. Ferment and ta da: moth bait!
Painting the trees with moth bait
It was a great turn out and a beautiful night. Bonuses included watching the International Space Station fly over, a conversation between Kim Kaufman and an Eastern Screech-Owl and feeding hungry hoards of mosquitos.
We were able to grab a few photos (below) but they are not the best quality. We look forward to doing more mothing in the future. In the United States and Canada, more than 11,000 species of moths have been recorded…so there is no shortage of new species to learn!
A type of Geometer Moth
Lunate Zale Moth
A type of Idia Moth
