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  August 3rd and the weather has again become extremely
hot and sunny. Perhaps it is because of the weather that I have noticed so
much more wildlife, or perhaps it is simply that my eyes have been opened.
Whichever, once again today I have been blessed with a variety of photo
opportunities. To begin with yesterday evening the outside light attracted a
silver-y moth autographa gamma, then today on an outing to Denny Abbey, well worth a
visit, with the family I managed another as one hovered over the burdock
plants. The Y mark on the wings, from which it gets its name are clearly
visible on the enlarged photos that open up if you click on the pictures.
  Also among the burdock and on the
lavender bushes were small tortoiseshell butterflies, aglais urticae.
  Before we left for our family outing I
noticed a grasshopper on our outside wall, and the light was not even on!! I
suspect that it is what is called a common field grasshopper, chorthippus
brunneus, but just look at the amazing detail and from above it looks
almost robotic.
 Then finally at Denny Abbey my older daughter
noticed this magnificent dragonfly. After several attempts of taking a photo,
without much success, and a prayer from my younger daughter that the
dragonfly would get fed up with the photo session and leave, I achieved the
photo attached. And guess what, despite it's beauty it is a common sympetrum sympetrum
striolatum.
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  Monday, 4th August and it would appear that we
do not have to travel as far as Denny Abbey to see the common sympetrum,
there were a pair and a single one flying over our pond this morning. The
pair did not stay overlong but the solitary one which I think may be a male
was quite happy to have his photo taken.
  Both of these moths appeared last night as a
response to lights left on. I suspect that the one immediately to the right
of the text is the riband wave featured a couple of weeks ago. However the
one furthest right is a newcomer and I wonder if he is a Vapourer Moth, orgyia
antiqua. You can see the distinctive antennae, although not very well
even on the enlarged picture. Unfortunately this moth was on the other side
of the patio doors, responding to the light inadvertently left on in the
dining room and I had to climb a pair of steps to take the photo, hence the
poor quality and rather unusual angle.
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 This picture will look very similar to one
taken last week when I said that I would try and identify the moth. Well I
have been informed that this is no moth at all but a caddis fly. However I
was told that I could be forgiven for the mistake as the Caddis flies are the
closest living relatives to the moths, and some of the more primitive moths
(like the Nematopogon which I had thought it was) are very similar in
structure. It simply goes to show how much I have to learn!
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 Tuesday, August 5th and I think that I can
quite definitely state that this is a moth which was beside our back door
this morning. Needless to say I have no idea what it is at this moment in
time but will endeavour to find out. After some research I believe it may be
either the red twin-spot carpet, xanthorhoe spadicearia, or
dark-barred twin-spot carpet, xanthorhoe ferrugata.
 Had a most enjoyable day out to the
Seafarers Mission in Tilbury where we learnt about all that they do for those
who transport our goods from one country to another. It was eye-opening to
learn about some of the conditions that seafarers have to work in and the
loneliness that they can experience. It was also interesting to see how
containers are dealt with. However in amongst all this activity it was
delightful to come across the most magnificent buddlia bushes with the
inevitable butterflies. This red admiral was most obliging.
 One moth that reappeared this week was this eudonia
mercurella.
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 Wednesday, and the heat continues,
will the temperatures reach an all time high? I am very aware that the birds
have been neglected recently, mainly because I have been trying out a new
zoom lens and the birds that I have hoped to capture, the greenfinches, have
been particularly unco-operative, deciding to come to the feeders when I
cannot get to the camera without disturbing them. However I thought the photo
of the rather cross looking blue tit quite amusing.
  Last night in our back alleyway was the moth
pictured to the left, I took both top and side views as it has quite a
distinctive range of tufts on it's back, hopefully this will help identify
it! On checking I think it may be the Dusky Brocade Apamea remissa.
I also managed to take a photo of a comma butterfly this morning which clearly
shows the white comma shaped mark on it's hind wing that gives it it's name.
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  Thursday and the white moth with black
markings was discovered this morning on the patio windows. Unfortunately it
was a little worn round the edges. I think that it is one of the pugs but
would find it difficult to say which one. The other is a twenty-plume moth, alucita
hexadactyla. To find a much better picture of this beautiful little moth this link will take you to Ian
Kimber's UK Moths site.
 Another moth of the wave family I think,
probably riband wave of which I seem to be finding a lot. Now I will tell you
of the two that got away! Firstly I had an amazing photo opportunity that I
missed because batteries were not charged. As I hung my washing out a large
yellow and black dragonfly landed on the grass having caught a white
butterfly. It remained on the grass long enough for me to get my spare camera
(the main one was upstairs needless to say) I switched the camera on only to
find there was not enough battery power. The dragonfly flew to a nearby shrub
with it's prey and I sped upstairs for the main camera but by the time I
returned the dragonfly had left. Then as we were by the river this afternoon
Pete and I saw a mother-of-pearl moth feeding on the rose bay willow herb
flowers. Just as I took the camera from its case and set it up the moth and
several like it left!!
  At
least flowers do not get up and fly off so I too a photo of this toadflax, linaria
vulgaris. And the seed heads, almost flying off, of the rose bay willow
herb.
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juvenile moorhens were too busy looking at themselves or drinking so I
managed a picture of them and then a bonus! Pete spotted the pike lurking at
the bottom of the Stort and although I could really have done with a polaroid
filter having enhanced the picture you can just see it.
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   Friday and nearly the end of another week. A
week in which I have seen several new things, even if I was unable to take a
picture. Although last night I didn't miss the opportunity. This discovery
was the somewhat odd resting position of the endotricha flammealis moth
which appeared a couple of weeks ago. Evidently this resting posture is quite
normal for this little moth with a wing span of 15mm or so. I managed to take
several photos that I have attached. All three pictures open up if
clicked on.
 Something of which I learnt at school was the
way in which ants and aphids work together, the ants protecting the latter
for payment of a sweet secretion. The ants I was informed milked the aphids.
This morning looking around I saw an example of this.
 I
also managed the longed for photo of the greenfinch although even then it
managed to keep most of it's wings and body out of sight. and
the mouse reappeared long enough to have this photo taken.
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 Displaying itself beautifully on
our study wall the mother-of-pearl moth, of which there seem to be a great
deal around, shows clearly the rason for it's name.
    There are sucha variety of
moths, several hundred species in the UK alone and it is very difficult
finding out which are which. I think that the little one feeding on the
potentilla (yellow flower) is pyrausta aurata or pyrausta purpuralis. The
one of which there are two pictures is possibly a burnished brass diachrycia
chysitis, or even a scarce brass. Finally the little dark one with the
two tufts on it's back could be one of several in the family yponomeutidae.
 Crickets are perhaps easier and I believe this
one to be a dark bush cricket, pholidoptera griseoaptera, note the
short oval wings on top of the body, This one is a male as it dies not have
the large sabre-like ovipositor of the female.
 Finally dare I suggest that this caterpillar
is that of the cabbage white butterfly?
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