There's not a lot left of this gallant old Small Tortoiseshell which must have had an eventful life. It will have hatched last August, I guess, and survived since then in the beautiful surroundings but often bracing climate of Grassington, where Penny and I found it on Cove Lane, on our way back into the village from Grass Wood. The sunshine brought out plenty of other butterflies - Speckled Woods, Orange Tips and Green-veined Whites and it was also great to see an Oystercatcher powering its way along the gravelly curve of the Wharfe. They have fine beaks!
Back in the trap, it's Littly time, which always drives me mad in terms of identification.
I'm pretty sure the blurred one is a Dwarf Pug and the prettily-patterned percher on the trap's plastic cowl, a May Highflyer.
The third is one of the carpets, I'll hazard, but I have to get up now to do some work.
I'm hopeless at arranging text and pictures when I've got rather a lot of the latter, so apologies that this post looks a bit of a dog's breakfast. Oh and thanks for the Oystercatcher picture to the website www.discoverislay.com. Discovering Islay is a good thing to do. There is no way I'd ever have got a picture of ours in flight, but too much faffing with the camera can spoil the moment, so I don't mind.
4 comments:
Nice shot of the Oystercatcher. The moths are neat!
Hey Martin - big news. I played hookie the other day with some friends and went to see the famous Barnes museum in Philly, which is a remarkable collection of paintings surrounded by a magnificent arboretum. Early on in the tour of the arboretum, the guide mention that we would be seeing an unusual tree - called the "handkerchief tree" and sure enough. . .but alas, the hankies had already disappeared. The climate around Philly must be similar to yours - far lusher than NY. Right now, I am writing from a dog-friendly (and wifi available) motel in Maryland where, outside the air is heavy with the scent of honeysuckle a la Tennessee Williams. xxs
Nice moths and handsome oystercatcher.
Hi all and many thanks for the comments. Great news - and coincidence - about the handkerchief tree S! I've always been interested in the way you get 'coincidences' after you've been sensitised to something - makes you wonder how often they happen without you realising. I think Arthur Koestler spent a lot of time pondering this...
The Oystercatcher was wonderful to see. It had gone well before I had my camera out. In fact, before I'd even thought of getting it out. Pen is a great one for saying that we should enjoy the moment and can spoil it with too much faff about photography, and as a veteran of family parties where children were arranged in height order while some relative fussed over the light and focus, I have to agree.
Except when it comes to moths...
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