Moth Day

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 According to an item on the radio this morning there has been a big increase in moth recording since the first "lockdown" with several recordings of rare species and species in areas that are new to them. I can't claim any expertise but I have been setting a. moth trap on and off for the last wee while and I thought I would feature moths today.

Last nights catch was 72 moths. The vast majority were orange underwings , but I also recorded one splendid elephant hawkmoth, one swallowtail moth, a handful of barred straw moths, a couple of small magpie, a couple of burnished brass. The first image shows the egg cartons that I use for the moths to settle on covered with moths. There are lots of the underwing moths snuggled up into the crevices.


And in a bit more detail - a swallow tail.

A barred Straw

A burnished brass

The small magpie

And the quite magnificent elephant hawk moth

In addition to all of that one moth decided to lay her eggs on one of the egg cartons. Which one we will never know.. I have popped the eggs under some vegetation in th garden in the hope that they survive.

Diary
I saw a couple of stoats in the garden yesterday (together). I don't know what's going on there - they were the same size soI guess the same sex. Perhaps they are two of the litter of young stoats that have yet to go completely solo? I set camera traps in that area last night but saw nothing more.
Last night was the first time that I have seen a hedgehog in the bog meadow. It seems like a dangerous place for a hedgehog with the badgers about but it was nice to see one. I also got several shots of foxes and a female roe deer.

Finally , it was nice to get some close up views of this great spotted woodpecker this morning.
















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