Coffee morning

I'll stick my neck out this morning and say that this arrival last night (above) is a Green-brindled Crescent, although nothing about it is green. That is because it is the aberration capucino, named like the drink from the brown and white habit of Capucin monks and found almost exclusively in formerly heavy industrial areas such as Leeds. It baffled me at first, in spite of the distinctive white marking, because there didn't seem to be anything quite like it in my Waring, Townsend & Lewington, but a photo on UK Moths' excellent website (see list on left above) looks identical to mine.

It is a newcomer here, as is this second moth, if I have identified it correctly as a Pale Mottled Willow. There are a number of similar species but the clincher for me has been the PMW's fondness for peas. We have grown more peas this year than ever before, which isn't actually very many; maybe ten dinners' worth. But that would be a mountain of feasts for a PMW caterpillar, and something certainly burrowed into part of our crop.