Toothsome threesome

At 9am

In the noonday sun

It rained yesterday evening and it was raining again this morning early, but in between times three of my favourite Autumn moths flew in to spend the night. They are all lovely or handsome in their different ways, but I think that I feel most excited about the Large Ranunculus, the subject of my first few photographs.

The colouring of this sizeable moth is beautifully subtle, with little specks of ginger among the greys and greens, adding something extra in much the way that the eponymous spice does with cooking. The moth also has a characterful bristling 'face' and pleasantly striped legs. Altogether a joy.

At 9am

In the noonday sun

The Frosted Orange is also an extremely cheering sight among the worthy but relatively dull regulars at this time of the year: Large Yellow Underwings, assorted rustics and the like. The balding head on my second specimen (of four in the eggboxes) shows that they have been around for a while, but these are the first to pay me a call this year.

Finally, the Black Rustic is a very old favourite of mine and I have compared it to Darth Vader on endless occasions. All three moths were so contented that they were still in the eggboxes when friends arrived for lunch. By that stage, the sun had come out and we were able to enjoy the subtle and varied patterns of slightly different but all velvety blacks which make up the Black Rustic's superficially monochrome wings.

At 9am

In the noonday sun