Tony Tilford not
only designed and built the high-speed
photographic flash used for these
pictures; he also produced the
completely automatic detection
and triggering system allowing
unaccompanied photography of this
fascinating subject. Developed
over the course of a year, many
problems were encountered especially
the congregation of moths that
had been attracted to the set-up
overnight.
Predation of this
food source by birds became a
conservation issue when numerous
birds invaded the area each morning,
sometimes disturbing the camera
set-up. The problem was solved
by timing the system to switch
off well before dawn.
