The wonderful Hummingbird Hawk moth comes to see us every Summer on blazing days like the current spell - and its calling on gardens ever-more widely around the British Isles. As I mentioned in my last post, my sister in Bradford beat me to spotting one this year and got a very good picture. We both remembered first seeing one on a family holiday near Tenby sixty - aaagh! - years ago.
They are not easy to photograph but I managed these two shots and then took the little film below. As a friend says, the moths are tremendously industrious, no fluttering gently around like a butterfly for them.
There have been good things happening in the wider world of my moths, where newcomers are pretty rare now that my light trap has been shining out here for ten years. Today was a London bus event when three arrived all in one go: the Brown-tail with its eponymous organ tufted just like a shaving brush, the Kent Black Arches which is neither black nor any longer confined to Kent and a Plume whose exact ID I await from the gurus on the Upper Thames Moths blog - or a kind contributor here if you nip in smartly. It's the one in the second composite with lovely, delicate pale colouring and patterns.
The Brown-tail is bottom left, above, next to a Pebble Hook-tip and at an angle to a Yellow-tail, a related species which is very common here at the moment. The flying funeral envelope is a Box Bush moth whose caterpillars do indeed signal death, to any box hedge within reach.
The mystery Plume is top right above and the Kent Black Arches bottom left. The other two are a neat Brown Plume and that intricately patterned moth the Phoenix.
2 comments:
Hi Martin
I thought has it really been 10 years since he moved from Leeds because it didnt feel like it had been that long since i first favourited your blog, but it turns out ive been occasionally popping in since August 2008 when (memory jogged from seeing the post id marked) i was looking to id a caterpillar id seen. Unfortunately i never did figure it out and my id-ing skills have not improved with the passage of time, so take a tentative stab (is that a misnomer or an oxymoron - English not a strong point either it seems) at Yarrow Plume with a pinch of salt. You had caught a Phoenix in the next post after the one i had stumbled on btw so some things dont change much, but i dont think youd have got such good pics/footage of the hummingbird hawkmoth back then :) Thanks for your continued posts which while variably witty, informative and interesting, they are also seemingly always cheerful.
Have a great day Martin.
Hi there and MANY apologies for taking so long to reply. I've only just done another post and have several more to sort, just to catch up. It's really kind of you to keep popping in. I looked back at t he cattie and apologise again that I was no help. My ID skills remain atrocious, even after all these years. Sorry again form being so slow and many thanks for your kind remarks. I haver to fight against familiarity these days but the moths still have a habit of bringing me something new and wonderful - most recently the amazing return of the Clifden Nonpareil. All warmest wishes, Martin
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