Loads of moths once more, but this sunny weekend is also proving marvellous for butterflies. Here's a Holly Blue which inspected us at lunchtime. It was joined in our Leeds garden by a Comma (the same bright, orangey-brown as fritillaries), Ringlets, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Green-Veined Whites, Small Whites, Speckled Woods, Tortoiseshells and an enormous orange dragonfly. We had supper outside and at 9.30pm, when it was still very light, a Swallowtailed moth appeared and did some erratic loops and jinks as though drunk or only just woken up. Aeronautical engineers must draw interesting conclusions from the flight patterns of butterflies - mostly comparatively leisurely although sometimes very swift and powerful, and moths which tend to hurtle about all over the place.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Powder blue
Loads of moths once more, but this sunny weekend is also proving marvellous for butterflies. Here's a Holly Blue which inspected us at lunchtime. It was joined in our Leeds garden by a Comma (the same bright, orangey-brown as fritillaries), Ringlets, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Green-Veined Whites, Small Whites, Speckled Woods, Tortoiseshells and an enormous orange dragonfly. We had supper outside and at 9.30pm, when it was still very light, a Swallowtailed moth appeared and did some erratic loops and jinks as though drunk or only just woken up. Aeronautical engineers must draw interesting conclusions from the flight patterns of butterflies - mostly comparatively leisurely although sometimes very swift and powerful, and moths which tend to hurtle about all over the place.
Hi Martin,
ReplyDeletejust discovered your blog. How do you do so well? I live just down the valley in Thackley and trap dismally small numbers. I used to trap many more years ago but the numbers have dropped off. There must be less moths around here now or the ones I trapped years ago are still living, remember my trap and avoid it!!
Norman alvin
Hi Norman - That's very interesting about the difference over such a short distance. Mind you, an awful lot of my catch at the mo is made up of what I ignorantly refer to as 'yellow underwings'. What kind of trap do you have? Mine is the Robinson one which is very good - in fact you may be able to see its glow from Thackley. Btw I'm planning to highlight Christine's excellent Open Air School book in Yorks Life. Anyway, it's v nice to have a Comment which are a lot rare than moths...
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