26th June - Eins Zwei Drei Vier Funf Sechs Sieben Acht

The week has been relatively pleasant, but there was rain forecast for Friday.  I put the moth trap out overnight and was pleased with the results in the morning, some new moths for the year, and a brand new moth for the garden.

There were two Elephant Hawk-moths present but I decided against putting them through the camera, and released them into the conifers.

For once I managed to get one of the commoner moths to stick around for a photograph. This is the Riband Wave, a creamy white moth with ribands that wave through the wings Two distinct forms occur of this species, roughly equal in numbers. The typical form has a dark band across all four wings, whereas the plain form, which was also in the trap but flew off, only has narrow cross-lines.

Next was the Willow Beauty, Again a moth with several forms, typical forms are brownish with darker streaks and markings, but there is also a greyish form.

The next two moths have been seen before, the Shoulder striped Wainscot.

And the lovely Burnished Brass.

The new moth though was the Figure of Eighty, so called for the marks on the wing that look like the figure eighty.

This attractive moth adopts a cylindrical posture when at rest, with the wings curled tightly around the body. The white '80' mark on the forewing, varies in shape and intensity.

I have bought some live mealworms for the birds and it has been entertaining watching the sparrows and the Blackbirds feed on them.  Both have been taking them to feed young.  The Blackbird will look to collect as many worms as possible, while the sparrows will pick them over choosing to take at maximum two up to their young in the nests.

There was also two other events, one was a Sparrowhawk that appeared zipped through the trees, and then was ambushed by a female Blackbird that effectively chased it away.  The other was this lovely male Bullfinch that appeared on the feeders.

With weather turning hot over the coming days hopefully there will plenty more to see and photograph, watch this space.