Wednesday 10 April 2013

Things have started at last





Behold!  A moth! No, moths plural. At last, the season has begun after weeks of cold and wet. Not that it's turned warm exactly; last night's temperatures were hovering around zero. But the first of the many eggboxes which I've accumulated over the winter months produced this: a handsome Satellite Moth with its flying saucer wing marking attended by two satellites.


Yesterday I was down at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, preparing a piece for the Guardian (yes, I have retired, but there are one or two bits and bobs to clear up). It's going to be about a memorial to the work of the Friends' Relief Services and the Friends' Ambulance Unit in which my father served as a conscientious objector in World War Two. As a result, I was with Quakers, those excellent people; and by happy coincidence my Satellite Moth was with Quaker Moths. There were five Common Quakers for a start and here's one of them.




Also in the trap: what I believe to be a Clouded Drab, a truly demeaning name which ought to be changed by the Global Moth Authorities as I have demanded previously. It is attractive and subtly patterned in its modest way.


And finally this, below. I think in my disorderly way which is the despair of my mothing advisors, that it's a Small Quaker. There were three of them. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Meanwhile, I just had a look back at the blog last year and although April seems to have been a bit bleak, I had more than 50 assorted Quakers visiting in one night in late March and a rich range of other moths in the month which this year has been all but blank





3 comments:

Unknown said...

Great to see that your season has started.

A nice selection of what should be spring 'usual suspects' by now, sadly due to the weather they are only just starting to appear in earnest.

Conditions do look like they are improving though, It must be vicious rumours but I have heard mention of temperatures into the high 'teens on Sunday, surely not...

Bennyboymothman said...

Great to have you back with us Martin :)
Nice tody catch you had there and similiar to mine, although haven't seen a Satellite this year or a Clouded Drab yet....maybe tonight will change that.
Yes a warm Sunday ahead indeed, will it last into next week though? hmmm.

MartinWainwright said...

Hi both! Great to know you're there, keeping me on the straight and narrow. I'm glad that I got things right this time.

It is a relief isn't it? I guess moths, like all animals, are pretty resilient, but I wouldn't have wanted to be one for the last few months.

More soon!

M