Pete's Walks - Mother Shipton
Photo taken on 22/05/19 at Martin Down, Hants.
This is a common moth throughout all but the far north of Britain, that is only active by day. It flies between May and July.
I have wanted to see a Mother Shipton ever since I got interested in moths around 2008, simply because of the bizarre marking on each wing that resembles the face of an old hag. That's what gives the moth its name(apparrently the soothsayer and prophetess Mother Shipton was very ugly). Although they are common on a range of grassy habitats (including the grassy downland along the northern edge of the Chilterns) I never seemed to be in the right place at the rght time to see one, although I know people who have seen them in the Chilterns close to where I live. In fact one lady found one when I lead a group round Ivinghoe Beacon looking for wildflowers, but as she was about a hundred yards from the rest of us when she found it, she didn't tell anyone and so I didn't find out about it until she posted a photo on the internet the next day! A couple of times I went to Bison Hill at Whipsnade or Ivinghoe Beacon specifically to look for a Mother Shipton, but never with any success. It seeemed to be my 'bogey' moth, the one I was never going to see.
Then in May 2019, while looking for butterflies and orchids at the wonderful Martin Down nature reserve in Hampshire, I thought I saw one. I quickly grabbed a photo, but when I examined it, what I'd seen was a Burnet Companion moth (another day-flying moth I see quite frequently, especially when I'm looking for butterflies). Disappointed once more, I carried on. Then just a few minutes later I again thought I saw one - and this time when I checked the photo on my camera's screen I was right! At last, after waiting over ten years, I'd finally seen a Mother Shipton.
After waiting so long to see one, it took me just 10 days to see my second! This was at Battlesbury Hill in Wiltshire. And in May 2021 I finally got to see one in the Chilterns, at Studham Common just a few miles from my home..
Photo taken on 1/06/19 at Battlesbury Hill, Wilts.
Photo taken on 31/05/21 at Studham Common, Beds.