Furry fellow

We've had the first frost of autumn, plenty of wet and damp and the pleasanter distraction of a weekend in Paris. So when I lit the lamp last night, there'd been an interval of nearly a week and my hopes were high.

They were realised. Two new species for my trapping in Oxfordshire came to call, both very handsome. The furry fellow at the top is the December Moth, a much grander insect than the Jane Eyre-alike November Moth. It belies its name by flying as early as October in the south of the UK. This one has just got here in time to be an October moth.

Next comes the Grey Shoulder-knot. I used to get the December Moth regularly in Leeds but this one - common in the south - is new to me. Isn't it a delight (as is my latest eggbox which tells me all about the hens' owner, one Kitty Campbell).

Finally, the Angle Shades is so photogenic that I can't resist a picture of the one which snuggled down in the trap last night. Other arrivals included a Silver Y, plenty of Red-green Carpets, a Feathered Thorn, several Large yellow Underwings, Red-line and Yellow-line Quakers and a Beaded Chestnut.

Hooray, we are back on the road.