Bad timing

Here are two carpet moths discussing National Moth Night, which falls tonight and tomorrow. I think they are as baffled as I am. They may, of course, actually be talking about Understanding Egg Codes which, as you can see, is among the subjects raised in the impressive amount of text you get printed on eggboxes. One of these days, someone will start serialising a novel on them. Or should that be done on cereal boxes? ho, ho. Anyway, it's a puzzle as to why the excellent group Butterfly Conservation chooses mid-September for this laudable exercise because round here, at any rate, moths are getting a bit sparse. Maybe it's because they've released a few thousand marked moths, painted with a dot of harmless colour, and we are all being asked to look out for these in our traps. With fewer moths around generally, they may be easier to spot, and at least the inundations of yellow underwings, which sap my enthusiasm for picking carefully through the catch, are easing off. So if you see a moth with a coloured dot in the next few months, let Butterfly Conservation know - www.nationalmothnight.info. Your record will help build up migration patterns which ringing has made so comprehensive and interesting for birds.