It rained last night so I brought the eggboxes indoors and, unusually for me because of time shortage and other demands, gently tipped the slumbering moths out on to a table. Here they are, above, all 38 of them if my numbering is correct.
They are the customary bunch for this time of year: Common and Small Quakers (the latter in the picture above), Clouded Drabs, an Early Grey and one species with very different and more rakish wings than the others, this March Moth, below.
But I am puzzled by the final one shown here, in three different pictures. Is it a Clouded Drab, like the one on the right in the second photo? Or a Red Chestnut? Or even (as I secretly hope) a White-marked, a moth which is not common generally but seems to enjoy living in Oxfordshire. Like Penny and me.
3 comments:
Hi Martin
Your unsure ID photograph trio, I am going to favour the Clouded Drab, but I agree it is a tricky one to call.
My deciding factor was the hint of a point to the wing apex, which to me is not prominent in a RC or W-m.
My intention is to contribute to the debate, which is what these Moth communities are all about, not in this instance to say it is a CD definitively.
Ray
White-marked is pretty much only just hanging on nowadays which is a shame.
Clouded Drabs they are :)
Thanks very much both. I spent an hour or so re-mulling last night and reluctantly came to the same conclusion. I so much appreciate your views, both. I'm also getting excellent tuition on Thames Valley Moths but I don't want to post my sad pleas for help on there too often.
Hope your mothing - and retirement planning, Ray - is going well. Things have settled into a bit of a rut here but no doubt some exciting newcomer will be along one of these days.
all warmest
M
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