Mothing Event

Written by Trish Snider

Elgin County Mothing Event a Tremendous Success

The St. Thomas Field Naturalist Club and the Thames Talbot Land Trust partnered together to host the first-ever mothing event in Elgin County at the Hawk Cliff North Meadow. This is a Thames Talbot Land Trust Property located on Dexter Line just east of Port Stanley, ON. The event took place on Friday June 19^th and Saturday June 20^th, 2026. The weekend featured a “Creatures of the Night” mothing event on the Friday evening followed by a “Morning Discovery” morning event on Saturday morning.

The “Creatures of the Night” event was devoted to exploring the diversity of moths at Hawk Cliff North Meadow at night. The event ran from 8:30pm to midnight. Six moth stations were strategically placed along the forest and meadow edges. The stations we used included traditional moth sheets, a light tower and a moth tent. We used a variety of light sources including mercury vapour, ultraviolet (black) lights, and LepiLED lights. Each type of station reflects light differently to increase the visibility to a variety of moths and attracting a variety of species. We had 61 participants attend the weekend events, plus our volunteers and mothing experts. (Below are some examples of the moth stations we used, photos provided and taken by Alan Macnaughton)

The “Morning Discovery” event ran from 9:30am to noon and was devoted to exploring the diversity of moths using moth buckets (light traps) that were carefully placed throughout the restored meadow and woodland habitats. We used 10 moth buckets for this event. The moth bucket (light trap) provides a safe and effective method of observing moths. The moths are attracted to the light overnight; they enter the moth bucket (light trap) and settle comfortably on egg cartons inside the buckets until they are observed the followed morning and released ethically. We used black-lights as a light source to attract a variety of moths to the moth buckets (light traps).

The Hawk Cliff North Mothing event was led by moth experts Mary Gartshore and Peter Carson, whose extensive knowledge, specialized equipment and generosity made this event possible. Alan Macnaughton (Kitchener), Eric Giles (Norfolk County), David Okines (Norfolk County) also generously shared their expertise and support throughout this weekend event. A special thank you to Mary Gartshore and Eric Giles for opening the moth buckets on the Saturday “Morning Discovery” event and identifying moth species while participants enjoyed close-up views and opportunities to photograph and learn more about these remarkable insects.

This Elgin mothing event was an outstanding success with 215 moth species observed and documented; this includes 22 species recorded in Elgin County for the first time. Nearly 1,000 observations were added to iNaturalist making an important contribution to citizen science and biodiversity research.

Alan Macnaughton remarked that “It was by far the largest number of species observed at any moth event I have ever been at.”

Among the moth species observed, some highlights were Modest Sphinx, Polyphemus Silk moth, Three-parted Epiblema Moth, Tick-trefoil Caloptilia and a Waved Sphinx Moth.

One fascinating discovery was the Tick-trefoil Caloptilia Moth observed at this event. Alan Macnaughton noted that this species is closely associated with its host plants, tick-trefoils. During the restoration of the Hawk Cliff North Meadow, Mary Gartshore planted both Showy Tick-trefoil and Panicled Tick-trefoil, two native species. Finding the Tick-trefoil Caloptilia Moth demonstrates the value of restoring native plant communities and highlights how thoughtful habitat restoration supports a rich diversity of insects and other wildlife.

This memorable weekend would not have been possible without the support of our volunteers. Thank you to Al and Eva Hurst, Mike Cowlard, Nancy Douglas, Cindy and Nick Crease, Trish and Todd Snider, Gard Walker, Rebecca Seeley, and Skye Martineau (Thames Talbot Land Trust).

A heartfelt thank you goes to Thames Talbot Land Trust and our expert leaders, volunteers, and participants whose enthusiasm and dedication made this unforgettable weekend possible. The combined efforts showcased the incredible biodiversity of Hawk Cliff North Meadow while demonstrating the value of conservation, habitat restoration and citizen science.