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Vauvert Moths

@vauvertmoths.bsky.social
436 followers 557 following 385 posts

Phil de Jersey, archaeologist/numismatist based in St Peter Port, Guernsey. Started out with my son on that other place as moth fans, hence the name. Likely to be some other creatures, some books and some photography. And a bit of archaeology.

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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Up early in Edinburgh, from where I can offer this for #StandingStoneSunday from the wonderful National Museum. And it does look like a bike over a windscreen, thus demonstrating superiority of 2 wheeled transport 😉
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A shameless bit of self-promotion... and I'm pretty sure the first time I've given a lecture at 8am 😀
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Another pic from #Southampton Old #Cemetery #photography and a sort of offering for #StandingStoneSunday - don't they look human, or is it just me?
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Discovered the truly astonishing #Southampton old #cemetery today and could happily have spent hours exploring - must come back! #photography
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Spent last 48 hours at Southampton General Hospital @uhsft.bsky.social while mum gets sorted out. Nothing but praise for staff who have been uniformly wonderful. And a joy to meet so many different nationalities all working together to make people better. Brilliant antidote to Farage, Lowe and co.
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A beautiful Striped Hawk-moth from this morning's traps at Pleinmont #Guernsey #teammoth thanks to @andym105.bsky.social for all the hard work
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Finally got the trap out after a few wet and windy nights and we have sailed past 5000 #moths for the year with 148/36, including a couple new for us: Pebble Hook-tip and Dialectica scalariella (Echium Stilt). Also first Dusky Thorn for the year and a Scarce Bordered Straw #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
A fairly quiet night moth-wise with 97/29, but pleased to be visited by a Hummingbird Hawk-moth while emptying the trap, although obviously can't do it justice with my little point and shoot camera. And an Angle Shades to add to the face-on gallery #teammoth #Guernsey
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
We had a Mecyna asinalis (Madder Pearl) back at the end of May, and here's a second one from this weekend. Also new for us and unusual for #Guernsey is Diplopseustis perieresalis, perhaps more easily remembered as the Palm Tabby, only recorded here since 2023 #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Can't decide whether this driver really knew what he was doing, or really didn't... #Skye
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The vauvertmoths team are on holiday in Skye, where it has finally stopped raining (for now). One nice moth outside this morning, a July Highflyer? #Skye #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
The unmistakable face of a Canary-shouldered Thorn, NFY last night #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Much reduced numbers in the trap last night, just 78/26. Lots (10) of Jersey Tigers though, and also shown here are an Angle Shades and Privet Hawk-moth #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
A couple of additions to the face-on moth theme: Brimstone and Mother of Pearl from a catch of about 200/66 last night #teammoth #Guernsey
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
I think I posted a Poplar Hawk-moth face on a few weeks ago, but I can't resist another one... from last weekend #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
About 260 moths last night, well down on the previous night - Diamond-back were down from 109 to just 9! I think this battered Willow Beauty deserves a special mention - still flying almost two months after their peak in our garden, in the last week of May #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Another record for us last night, the first time we've had over 400 moths. 109 of them were Diamond-back Moths.... but among the others were half a dozen Jersey Tigers, including this one face on #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Much reduced numbers in the windy conditions last night, but we did reach our 350th species for the garden, with a Small Rivulet, first photo. Followed by the face of a Golden Twin-spot #teammoth #Guernsey
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
245 moths of 60 species last night: a couple new for us, Crambus perlella, and what I think is Assara terebrella, perhaps blown in on the easterly winds. Followed by an Early Thorn in characteristic pose and a Golden Twin-spot revving up for take-off #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
The latest face-on moths, this time a Buff Arches followed by a Burnished Brass #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Today's commute to work. I'm a lucky chap 😊 #photography #Guernsey #Herm
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Two more NFY moths from the weekend just gone, both very fine examples of their type: Gold Twin-spot and Coronet #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Two NFG this weekend were the Thistle Ermine, Myelois circumvoluta, and the Fig-leaf Skeletoniser, Choreutis nemorana - the latter only recorded in #Guernsey since 2023 I believe. NFY were Old Lady and Swallow Prominent #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
A couple of head-on moths before I start to properly tot up last night's 200 or so: Four-spotted Footman and a Silver Y #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Finally totted up last Saturday night's catch at 367/64, our highest ever total for one night. Highlights included our first Ni Moth, and a Sharp-angled Peacock - don't see many of those - and an impressive ichneumon wasp. Finishing up with the face of a Dark Arches #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
A few more highlights from the night before last: a tiny Argyresthia brockeella, Dewick's Plusia, Garden Grass Veneer and Jersey Tiger #teammoth #Guernsey
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
About to start going through 320+ moths from last night, but in the meantime here are a few highlights from the night before, *only* 275/64... the Bordered Beauty and Pine Carpet are NFG, then a Beautiful Hook-tip and a Vestal, both quite rare for us #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Could I ask #teammoth for an ID while I'm out in the field? Just seen on Herm, Channel Islands
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Nice view at work today although it is a little hot #Herm #Guernsey #photography
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
A few more moths from this weekend: a Rosy Footman, contrasting sizes in Box Tree Moths, and new for us, probably Dichrorampha alpinana, given the presence of Ox-Eye daisies in the garden #teammoth #Guernsey
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Keeping up the black and white theme, today's moth to recognise should you meet it head-on is an easy one... a Box Tree Moth #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Last night's moths in black and white: Clouded Border and Ethmia quadrillella (two pics) both new for us, and a dash of colour from a Small Magpie #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Back to the day job for #FindsFriday, here's a beautiful sherd of pottery from our recent excavation in #Alderney. Decoration looks like impressed grain, and from other finds in this context I'm guessing early Bronze Age... but French colleagues arriving soon will tell me 😄 #archaeology 🏺
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
From last weekend here's another moth face-on, this time the very distinctive Swallow-tailed Moth #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Today's face-on moth is a very handsome Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, first this year for us #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
In our #Guernsey garden just now, our first Orache of the year #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Not surprisingly much reduced numbers last night compared to last week: just 42 moths of 15 species. This Garden Grass-Veneer posed very well #teammoth #Guernsey
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
One of two new arrivals in our household, familiarising herself with Victor Hugo #caturday
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Finally got through all the photos of moths from last week's heatwave - we put the trap out four times, and got 906 moths of 106 species. A few more pics here - first Box Tree Moth of the year, Yellow Shell, our first ever Brown Silver-line and a Feline #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Another in an occasional series of moths face-on... this time it's a Willow Beauty #teammoth #Guernsey
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Another favourite from recent nights, the Burnished Brass #teammoth #Guernsey
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
One more before I give up for tonight, from a couple of days ago - a beefy Poplar Hawk-moth head on #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Almost 300 moths last night - this one stood out as something I hadn't seen before, and fortunately I got one reasonable photo before it took off. It's Mecyna asinalis, or the Madder Pearl, and fairly scarce in #Guernsey #teammoth
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
A snail searching for some respite from the heat #photography
Snail leaving a wandering trail in a concrete bunker on Alderney
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Newly fledged and keeping a beady eye on our excavation trench #birds
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
For #RomanFortThursday, here are the walls (some standing and some collapsed onto the beach) of the Nunnery in #Alderney, where a few of us are lucky enough to be staying while we excavate just up the road #archaeology 🏺
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
For #StandingStoneSunday, here's our enigmatic stone uncovered in a test pit in #Alderney last week, photo courtesy of Jason Monaghan. Unfortunately we can't uncover more of it with the water table at its current height #archaeology 🏺
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Occupational hazards of excavation: hedgehogs tumbling in overnight. These two - including the famous #Alderney blonde hedgehog - were rescued this morning none the worse for wear. A hedgehog escape ramp has now been installed. 🏺 #archaeology
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
A classic excavation pose 😁 🏺 #archaeology #Alderney
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Vauvert Moths @vauvertmoths.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Lots of Lackey caterpillars falling into my excavation here in #Alderney - this one stretched out on the tape, but note that's on the Imperial side 😀 #TeamMoth
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