On Saturday 25th we joined the BCNI outing to Peatlands Park. Target species Large Heath, Forester and Red Tipped Clearwing.

We arrived at 10.30,BCNI members had been present from early emptying the 13 moth traps which had been setup.

An impressive variety had been trapped. See the BCNI website for more details. Personal favourites being The Drinker and Beautiful Snout - no photos...

Large Heath - Peatland Park

After the traps where empty we all headed out onto the bog looking for Large Heath. This is the best and most reliable place in NI to see this species.

It didn't take long to put this species up,but get a photo was a different story. They are very flighty and combined with the strong wind they are not the easiest to photograph.

3 Forester Moths - Peatlands

After lunch we headed to the fen area for Forester and Clearwing. This involves a bit of cross country through very wet ditches. Even with people using pheromones,the Clearwings did not appear. On the other hand the Forester moths where fantastic.

No sooner had we arrived on the fen, when the green blue metallic sheen of these day flying moths was obvious. At least 15 where present, mostly feeding on the Common Spotted Orchids.

Mothing 18th June

The following moths were recording during a 6hr period from10.30pm to 4.30am in the garden on the 18th June.

Num.	Species
1	Map Winged Swift
1	Small Square Spot
4	Bright Line Brown Eye
1	Middle Barred Minor
1	Willow Beauty
4	Heart & Dart
1	Large Yellow Underwing
1	Pug sp

North Down Cycle Challange

This was my third time at this event. Almost 900 cyclists took to the roads around the Ards Penisular for a 60.69 mile charity ride.

My stats for the ride are;

Time	Distance	Split time	Split pace	Avg. HR	Avg. cadence
00:07:07	1	07:07	07:07	91 (48%)	39.5
00:10:17	2	03:10	03:10	120 (63%)	54
00:14:06	3	03:48	03:49	117 (61%)	45.3
00:18:05	4	03:59	03:59	127 (66%)	53.8
00:21:54	5	03:49	03:50	131 (69%)	80.6
00:25:16	6	03:21	03:21	151 (79%)	60.6
00:28:22	7	03:06	03:06	149 (78%)	73
00:31:10	8	02:47	02:48	137 (72%)	74.8
00:34:07	9	02:56	02:57	158 (83%)	76.1
00:37:35	10	03:28	03:28	161 (84%)	67
00:40:42	11	03:07	03:07	157 (82%)	72.4
00:43:51	12	03:08	03:09	157 (82%)	65
00:46:41	13	02:49	02:50	173 (91%)	80.2
00:49:14	14	02:33	02:34	183 (96%)	84.7
00:51:55	15	02:40	02:41	186 (97%)	89.1
00:54:46	16	02:50	02:51	182 (95%)	88.4
00:58:03	17	03:16	03:17	178 (93%)	86.6
01:01:17	18	03:14	03:14	177 (93%)	84.2
01:04:33	19	03:15	03:16	177 (93%)	84.8
01:07:40	20	03:07	03:07	173 (90%)	72.1
01:10:48	21	03:07	03:08	178 (93%)	77.9
01:13:45	22	02:57	02:57	180 (94%)	89.1
01:17:04	23	03:18	03:19	176 (92%)	70.6
01:20:47	24	03:42	03:43	182 (95%)	72
01:23:44	25	02:56	02:57	171 (90%)	69
01:26:44	26	03:00	03:01	169 (88%)	66.5
01:29:56	27	03:11	03:12	175 (92%)	68.1
01:33:13	28	03:17	03:17	179 (94%)	71.5
01:36:16	29	03:02	03:03	186 (97%)	69.3
01:39:50	30	03:33	03:34	175 (91%)	58.2
01:42:50	31	03:00	03:00	176 (92%)	68.6
01:46:24	32	03:33	03:34	183 (96%)	61
01:50:05	33	03:41	03:41	175 (92%)	72.3
01:54:09	34	04:03	04:04	173 (91%)	55.5
02:04:00	35	09:51	09:51	137 (72%)	27.5
02:08:04	36	04:03	04:04	169 (88%)	79.9
02:12:04	37	04:00	04:00	172 (90%)	77.2
02:15:41	38	03:36	03:37	178 (93%)	65.3
02:18:55	39	03:14	03:15	180 (94%)	63.9
02:22:20	40	03:24	03:24	177 (93%)	67.8
02:25:13	41	02:52	02:53	171 (89%)	62.9
02:28:30	42	03:17	03:18	178 (93%)	72
02:31:49	43	03:18	03:19	178 (93%)	77.2
02:34:49	44	02:59	03:00	177 (93%)	70.8
02:38:56	45	04:06	04:07	164 (86%)	49.7
02:42:33	46	03:36	03:37	177 (93%)	72.5
02:45:35	47	03:02	03:03	171 (90%)	60.8
02:48:20	48	02:44	02:45	180 (94%)	79.2
02:51:58	49	03:38	03:38	182 (95%)	74.5
02:55:21	50	03:22	03:23	184 (97%)	79.3
02:58:59	51	03:38	03:39	181 (95%)	80
03:02:46	52	03:46	03:46	179 (94%)	72.2
03:06:16	53	03:30	03:31	173 (90%)	57.8
03:09:57	54	03:40	03:40	169 (89%)	53.9
03:13:36	55	03:39	03:40	165 (86%)	50.7
03:19:04	56	05:27	05:28	181 (95%)	66.6
03:24:11	57	05:06	05:07	182 (95%)	77.5
03:27:10	58	02:59	02:59	169 (89%)	65.1
03:30:56	59	03:46	03:46	178 (93%)	63.6
03:34:56	60	03:59	04:00	178 (93%)	67.8
03:38:50	60.69	03:53	05:40	170 (89%)	51.9

More details to follow......

Cycling Moths

Almost the longest day. 17 hours of sunshine. It's overcast, raining and windy. No better time to put out the moth trap. The light will be on from 10.30pm to 4.30am. Wonder what it will bring?

Tomorrow is the North Down Coast Challenge, 61 miles cycling around the Ards Peninsular. This will be my 3rd time. It's always good to see over 700 bikes out with people of all sizes and shaped taking part.
My training has been hit and miss this year with a couple of big gaps, but I don't expect this cycle to be a problem. My fastest time around is 3 hours 30 minutes. Don't think I will beat that, but you never know....

Testing Post

Hopefully this blog will be used to keep track of my upcoming trip to Val de Nuria.