Moth rescue

Walking down the canal towpath yesterday, my eye was caught by a flurry at my feet. Movement is the great betrayer of life in the wild, followed by bright or unexpected colour. The latter was present too - flashes of orange meant a Yellow Underwing of some sort and I recognised the reason for its panicky distress from previous experience.

A wasp had got it by a hind leg and, however furious the moth's attempts to shake it off, there was no way that the attacker's jaws were going to relax their grip. With the help of a twig, I intervened. The wasp shot off into the sky and the moth crept into the safety of some longer grass, below.

The trap has meanwhile being playing host to a succession of seasonal moths including, in order below, a rather delicately-marked Autumnal Rustic, a Lesser Yellow Underwing, two August Thorns on opposite sides of the transparent cowl and a Frosted Orange.

Next we have a couple of belated pictures from the Great Night of the Clifden Nonpareil - in my state of advanced checking, which I described prior to the Nonpareil's eventual arrival, I went out before bed to check the trap and its surroundings. The Magnificent Arrival hadn't yet happened but this nice, rakish Angle Shades was perched on the wall. The second picture shows the looming shadow of its photographer and his iPhone.

Finally, here are a Pale Oak Beauty and a Brimstone on the bulb-holder, a Large Marbled Carpet looking very dainty, two more Brimstones on our parsnips next to the trap that night, and a pleasantly-named Rosy Rustic.

It is now tipping with rain and the forecast is soggy, so things may be quiet for a while.