|
 June
1st has begun dull and wet, hopefully things will brighten up later. It is
still warm although the sun is not shining and last night brought a bumper
crop of common swift moths with 5 on the outside walls where lights were on.
There is quite a variation in the markings with some very well marked and
others less so.  I
thought it worth placing 3 of yesterday's pictures together so that these
variations could be seen. There was also a White-shouldered House-moth Endrosis
sarcitrella, outside on the patio doors.
|
|
 June
3rd and the sun is once again beginning to shine. In spite of the wet weather
last night there were 3 more common swift moths on the back walls again
last night and on the front wall there was a Common Pug, Eupithecia
vulgata.
|
|
  The evenings are now producing several moths
attracted to the lights that we leave on outside. Unfortunately I cannot
manage to photograph them all and often they are repeats of moths that I have
photographed before. For instance last night there was a large moth that I
was unable to identify and a green carpet moth that evaded all my attempts to
capture it on "film". The two success stories were the Alucita
Hexadactyla, I think this is a very pretty little moth and very
delicatewith its fan-like wings.
Then there was this mottled pug.
I was also able to cheat a little when a friend brought me a Cinnabar, Tyria
jacobaeae, moth to identify for her. This posed beautifully and remained
outside until this morning when I was able to take some more pictures.
|
|
During the day there are an amazing number of little bugs
around if only one takes the time to look. For instance in almost every
Pontentilla flower on one bush there is one of these tiny insects. It is an Anthrenus
verbasci, and I am informed on Keith Edkins Insect site that the larvae
of this are pests of carpets and insect collections, however the adult,
pictured here is a pollen grazer.
It is worth clicking on the picture to see a larger version and the detail of
the Potentilla flower.
|
|
  June 4th and the weather is very
mixed. Whilst it is warm it is very dull and every so often there is some
rain although so far is has not been heavy. It is meant to be improving for
the weekend and into next week. Yesterday I went with my daughter and grandchildren
to Hatfield Forest where we saw the baby goslings and this orchid. I also
managed to find the green carpet moth which eluded me yesterday and it posed
for me on my hand as I tried to put it outside.
|
|
  Today
the Cinnabar moth was still with us, this time it had moved to the outside wal,
however it must have flown about midday and we have not seen it since.
Another creature we saw that I have not noticed before was the wasp beetle, Clytus
arietis. It is one of the many examples of "protective
mimicry."
|
|
  June 6th and the morning is
bright and sunny. Last night produced 2 more moths, to the left the Brown
House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella, and to the right the Garden
Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata. It is quite useful to be able to place
these 2 carpet moths on the same page for comparison. There was also a common
swift moth at the front of the house.
|
|
It is now June 8th and we are having beautifully sunny and
hot weather. The last few nights have been excellent for moths, each night
producing one or two species that I have not seen before. I will shortly be
having a moth trap, I just hope that I can find the time to use it properly!
Meanwhile it is a case of playing catch-up again as we had our granddaughter
staying for a couple of days last week and over the weekend, then it was our
week for going to King's Lynn and that accounted for Monday. Here are simply
a few of the highlights of the past few days.
Having seen the female female Broad
Bodied Chaser, Libellula depressa, I was pleased to be able to take a
photo of a male at Lee Valley Park. 
  We
were there with our grandaughter and whilst we were there we also saw a Great
Crested Grebe with a chick, so unlike it's parent with the stripy head. And
then there was the ruddy duck with its comical blue beak.
|
|
  As I discovered earlier this week
people are now asking me to help identify moths, although I do recognise my
own inadequacies. One moth that I was able to help with was this green pug, pasiphila
rectangulata, found on a neighbour's window. There are several green
moths in the UK and another landed on my kitchen window a couple of nights
later. This is the Green Silver-lines, Pseudoips prasinana.
|
|
Here are 3 more
moths discovered over the last couple of days.
From letf to right, a male Common Wave Cabera exanthemata (note the
feathered antennae), Treble Brown Spot Idaea trigeminata
and below them the Great Oak Beauty Hypomecis roboraria
|
|
 
|
|
Finally another highlight was to see a Reed Bunting at Lee
Valley. This is a photo of the female carrying nesting material.
ALL THE PICTURES WILL OPEN UP IF CLICKED ON
|