20th July - What a Very Special Time Indeed

A combination of being away this week, the weather on Saturday and commitments this weekend has meant that once again I haven't been able to get out around the patch lately, but there has been plenty of activity in the garden.

We continue to hear the young Green Woodpecker trying to call and Helen saw it with the parent again on a lawn in Lymington Rise during the week.  There have been plenty of Gold and Greenfinches on the feeders, and over the weekend there has been quite a few Blue and Great Tits about, plus a very vocal Coal Tit.

With the humid hot and still conditions it seemed perfect for moths and I was proved right Saturday night, with a large gathering of moths, and once again some new species for the garden.

First was this Mottled Beauty

This one was eventually found in doors, it is a Red Twin Spot Carpet.

There have been plenty of Dark Arches recently, but I was hoping there would be a Black Arches, and Saturday night delivered, a beautifully marked moth.

From the same family is a moth I have found before, but they are from the same family as the Black Arches, and are equally superbly marked, the Buff Arches

Another new moth for the garden is this Cabbage Moth.  The larvae are a pest of cultivated plants such as brassicas, and can ruin cabbages.

This moth is not new, in fact there have been plenty just recently, but this one had me guessing for a while because all the others I have seen have white in the wings, where as this one is mainly all olives and greens, this is a Coronet.

The next were not easy to contain, and I had to photograph them where they were sitting.  Firs the Dwarf Cream Wave

The Pebble Hook Tip

And the Nut Tree Tussock

The next one is a Plain Golden Y, as I was getting it out of the egg boxes it made a dash for freedom, but fortunately landed on a blade of grass at the bottom of the garden, and composed its own natural scene.  You can just make out the Y on the fore wing.  It is related to the commoner Silver Ya moth that flies often by day.

The next moth I have been also looking forward to catching, the Ruby Tiger.  Related to the Buff and White Ermines I have caught earlier in the year, it looks splendid with the pinkish red colouring, and the little red leg warmers.

I did pop out to have a look in the trap before  going to bed, and I noticed then that there were Hawk-moths about.  This morning though I found three species, one of which was new, the Pine Hawk-Moth.  This moth likes Scots Pine, but has spread in the 20th century due to the increase in general conifer plantations.  We have a small group of Larch and Scots Pine nearby so maybe the two I caught last night have come from there.

This is now the 5th Hawk-Moth I have caught, and if you include the Hummingbird Hawk-Moths we have had in the garden six in total.

As well as the Pine last night there was a Poplar, and an Elephant Hawk-Moth.  They are always a popular attraction, and are quite happy to be handled as you can see.

What a night, and it took awhile to release all the moths. The weather looks to remain good this week, so hopefully I will get the chance to get out in the week to see what else is about