Fur coats

Moon and Mothtrap - good name for a pub maybe.
Moon top right and trap bottom left; both alluring to moths

Temperatures are rising nicely by night as well as day now but the clear skies after dark still remind us that we haven't reached Summer yet. Not surprising then that the latest clutch of moths have included some notable fur coat wearers: two fine male Pale Tussocks - the legendary 'hop dog' of Kent where its hairy caterpillar gave some hop-pickers rashes - and a Lunar Marbled Brown, appropriately at a time when a fine sickle moon overseas our late evenings. 

During the lovely sunny days which are blessing us at present, I've been struck by the number of Speckled Wood butterflies doing their distinctive mad dance. Two of them whirl around like Dervishes, usually starting with tight circles in a tightly limited, low-down spot but then spiralling away, higher than our house.  Here's a very short vid and a couple of stills from it:

This looks to the uninitiated like a love dance but is actually the very opposite. Males are very territorial, like Robins, and chase one another to try and establish supremacy in their chosen patch. Other UK butterflies do this but seldom with the same frequency and dramatic effect.