Morning all,
have been trying to snatch a break from my Olympic duties to comment
on the moth query.
Many of my evenings are spent on Garden Island, the naval base in
Sydney Harbour, where the MS Deutschland and Nieuw Amsterdam are
moored for the duration of the Olympics. The ships are flanked by
floodlights which attract thousands of moths and an attendant flock
of gulls, wheeling above the ships, presumably feeding on the moths.
The majority of the moths are, I believe, Bogongs, although I am
willing to stand corrected as I am not a moth expert. However, mixed
in with these moths are large numbers of Hawk Moth Gnathothlibus
erotus, not a moth that I see very often.
It is quite reasonable to assume that the same species are being
attracted by the floodlights further up the Harbour/Parramatta River
at Homebush Bay, the Olympic site.
Am attending two sessions of the athletics and one of the hockey so
will be checking for moth corpses.
Regards, Andy
Hi Birding-aussers, just been watching the track & field this
evening, have you noticed the ever increasing presence and
consistency of size of the moths appearing on screen?
It has been some years since I lived in Sydney but I did witness
in some years, Bogong Invasions. I am pretty sure from memory, that
this would be the right time of year (Spring) and the insects
tonight seemed to be consistent in size.
Maybe I am just imagining it, those lights would obviously attract a
lot of moths, but these seemed to be everywhere. If so, things could
get interesting with the track over the next few days. Any
entomologists out there have any views? Cheers - Paul Walbridge.
--
Andy Burton's Bush Tours
12/8 Cambridge St,
Cammeray,
NSW 2062
Australia
Ph 61 2 9954 0893
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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