Sunday 8 November 2009

Goodbye to all that (til April)


Sorry - I've been rightly chided by one or two people for failing to make clear whether the blog has shut up shop for 2009 or not. It has. The trouble is, I so much like the picture of my fly (see next post down), that I wanted it to stay as the 'homepage'. Well, it's superseded now by this entry, which is just to confirm that with the trap bulb broken, dark mornings, scant moths and general busy-ness, everything is tucked away until the end of April.
I've been waiting for a final titbit to sugar the pill and my mother-in-law has now given me one: this cutting from the Daily Express. My son Tom used to work for this paper which, whatever its faults, has a sense of innocent fun missing from some other, more reputable but knowing rivals. It's got some good journalists too, including John Ingham who wrote this (and whose Dad is the fearsome Sir Bernard). Hooray, too, for Katie Dobbins whose moth is indeed a rarity. It's actually the first to be found here which doesn't figure in my Bible, Waring, Townsend and Lewington. It isn't even in their section on 'Doubtful records and suspected imports' which features such excitements as the False Water Betony and the Isabelline Tiger.
If you'd like to know more about it - tremble, if you have a Euonymus hedge - check out the American website which put it in lights earlier this year as 'Bug of the Week': http://raupplab.umd.edu/raupplab_java/bow-reader.jsp?/wt/raupplab/bugweek/archive/BugOfWeek_15D.html

I hope that Katie grows up to share my enthusiasm, which was helped by the wise and good John Armitage who praised my own rare capture of a fritillary variety when I took it him many years ago at Leeds City Museum. Check back for details about that to last year's closing entry; meanwhile thanks for reading and see you next year. Oh, and ever the relentless plugger, please spend as much of your Christmas money as possible on (a) True North from Guardian Books, and (b) A Mini Adventure from Aurum Press. See:

www.guardianbooks.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10401&catalogId=25501&langId=100&parentType=search&parentId=5nor&productId=172196

(although actually it's cheaper at W H Smith's)

and

www.amazon.co.uk/Mini-Adventure-Years-Iconic-Small/dp/1845134710/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257703851&sr=1-6

or find your nearest independent bookseller and get them there.

Happy Christmas!

11 comments:

Bennyboymothman said...

Happy Christmas!

Now that's a trifle early! enjoy the hibernation period :D
All the best and a happy Christmas to you too.
ps. Don't forget to wake up in April!

MartinWainwright said...

I won't Ben - and thanks warmly for all your encouragement and expertise over the year.

see you in April

Actually, wouldn't it be nice to curl up like a hedgehog or squirrel til then. Maybe if the Buddhists are right, I'll come back as one...

sarah meredith said...

I feel SO much better! Merci. xx to you and Penny

MartinWainwright said...

Thanks Sarah - sorry I should have said that you were the leader of Justified Demands for Blogging Closure. Long live America! J'espere que les lecons Francais vont bien. Toute a l'heure! M

John said...

Brilliant, I have enjoyed following your Blog this year...shutting up shop till April....aye you hibernaing then.

Have a Great Christmas. Roll on April.

John

MartinWainwright said...

Thanks v much John! And a very happy Christmas to you and yours (and any moths in the vicinty) too

warm wishes

M

Andrew Turner said...

More on this story here:

http://dougclow.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/ispot-helps-six-year-old-spot-new-to-britain-moth/

James said...

I just don't like the headlines 'UK's rarest moth'. Sure, it is a rarity, but it's only an import, and imports have appeared all over the UK, the species only appearing once. I would have thought that UK's rarest resident moth would be something like Ethmia pyrausta or Reed leopard.

MartinWainwright said...

Hi James - I agree. It's journalism, I'm afraid. If it was only 'quite a rare moth' or 'unusual import', the newsdesk wouldn't buy it, alas. One day, this'll change though - at least I think so - as readers get more pro-active and make the same point as yourself. They do it all the time on Guardian threads.

Happy Christmas!

Martin

MartinWainwright said...

Does anyone know what the last comment says (apart from the line saying 'sex'?

Big prizes for anyone who can help....

MartinWainwright said...

Actually, I rapidly discovered that it was a Japanese sex site link. Impressive, in a way, that they were touting for customers among moth nerds, but I thought I'd better delete it anyway.