Sunday 20 September 2015

Autumn colours



Not content with sending me the lovely Large Ranculus and Frosted Orange the other day, Mother Nature (or Mother Moth at any rate) added further joy and colour in the trap last night.

My first Bordered Beauty of the year, above, was resting serenely on an eggbox base, one of the loveliest of the UK's moths with its glorious combination of colours and pattern. This is the archetype of moths which have influenced fashion designers. Imagine that as a dress.


The Sallow is another newcomer for the year, lemony pale in its version of  yellowand orange with small dots and dashes adding extra interest. Finally, a large Red Underwing was sitting unmolested on the trap's plastic shield when I pottered out at around 8am. Its camouflage had protected it from the birds. I always enjoy tickling Red Underwings to encourage them to show their bloomers, as this one did. Eventually it had hd enough and flew powerfully away - the size of a small bat and for that reason, maybe, still preserved from the bitds which were just getting active at that time of day.

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