Back to the trap at last, after almost a month away. It was July 17th when I last turned the light on, before assorted birthday celebrations, bliss on Paxos and the inevitable penalty in terms of a backlog at work. Conditions aren't exactly propitious at the moment, with August proving its usual treacherous self, but there was a massive army of assorted yellow underwings encamped among the eggboxes. The mere sight of them makes me weary, and if one or two were captured by birds in spite of my careful hiding of their comatose selves, I am not honestly too bothered. We have Sparrowhawks mewing at the moment, and a lovely, fluttering family of Long-tailed tits, and I would rather have them than approximately 250 yellow underwings any time.
Also slumbering, though, were Spectacle moths with their strange little pairs of glasses on (or so it looks, because of their head patterning,) plus the distinctive eyebrow marks on their wings. There were lots of Silver and Golden Ys, abundant small moths whose identification must wait another day, and these two: a Willow Beauty (I think), above right, wondering if the hen has laid, while a wasp checks out the salt content of the eggs. And a Dark Arches, left, a handsomely patterned moth. Admittedly, it's all a little subdued after the butterfly glories of Paxos and Leeds' sunny spell last week. But we can't live in technicolour all the time.
Back to the trap at last, after almost a month away. It was July 17th when I last turned the light on, before assorted birthday celebrations, bliss on Paxos and the inevitable penalty in terms of a backlog at work. Conditions aren't exactly propitious at the moment, with August proving its usual treacherous self, but there was a massive army of assorted yellow underwings encamped among the eggboxes. The mere sight of them makes me weary, and if one or two were captured by birds in spite of my careful hiding of their comatose selves, I am not honestly too bothered. We have Sparrowhawks mewing at the moment, and a lovely, fluttering family of Long-tailed tits, and I would rather have them than approximately 250 yellow underwings any time.
Also slumbering, though, were Spectacle moths with their strange little pairs of glasses on (or so it looks, because of their head patterning,) plus the distinctive eyebrow marks on their wings. There were lots of Silver and Golden Ys, abundant small moths whose identification must wait another day, and these two: a Willow Beauty (I think), above right, wondering if the hen has laid, while a wasp checks out the salt content of the eggs. And a Dark Arches, left, a handsomely patterned moth. Admittedly, it's all a little subdued after the butterfly glories of Paxos and Leeds' sunny spell last week. But we can't live in technicolour all the time.
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