Maidenly delights

The family of mochas and waves, known scientifically as the Sterrhinae, has been very good to me this year. The Mocha itself, a moth for which I have long hoped, at last paid a visit as did a Jersey Mocha or Blair's Mocha, whose identity is still in the hands of the experts at iRecord. 

My latest caller is a regular but only occasionally; one of the most delicate of the family and with perhaps the most appealing name: the Maiden's Blush. Here it is, blushing away on my pyjamas which appear on so many of my photos as I rise before morning tea to examine the trap.

A second nice surprise was the even more occasional arrival of a Bulrush Wainscot, one of the largest of another elegant family of moths, the Noctuidae, and a testament to the fact that we have plenty of bulrushes growing round here on ponds and beside the Oxford Canal. 

 

Below is a Common Wainscot, the most regular of the family to call here as its name suggests. I am sorry, I should have provided a scale but it is less than half the size of its Bulrush relation. Perhaps the magnification of the eggbox structure shows that. 

My examination of the trap's contents is watched these days by not just one but a pair of robins, possibly brothers from a Spring brood, which compete for territory in the garden. This is actually a bonus as they spend more time jealously keeping an eye on one another than watching for errant moths.

Here is a tiny scrap of a micro, the sort which I often fail to bother to photograph, but I am glad that I did because of the distinctive little pink mark.  I am currently trying to ID it and will update this when I do.

Next a Willow Beauty with a curious marking on its left forewing which I plan to ask about on the Upper Thames Moths Facebook page. Again, I will update if any interesting information comes from that.

Finally among the current moths, two Whitepoints in slightly different colour tones, exaggerated for good measure by the iPhone. 

The sunshine meanwhile continues to bring butterflies, which have been exceptional this Summer. Here is a Brown Argus on our vegetable patch and one of a huge new brood of Speckled Woods whose males engage in their curious spiralling combat flights in the mottled shade which they love so much.

And here's a female Common Darter dragonfly having a rest for once, amid its high-speed flights round the garden hawking for little flies, and lastly a hornet, fierce-looking but amiable although we're relieved that their nest in our eaves last year has not been revived.