Powdered and pale

Powdered Quaker

Catches in the trap continue to be modest on these cold and damp nights. Yesterday evening our house and neighbours were shrouded in a spooky mist, the sort which brings to mind murders and escaped convicts on the marshes. Such conditions also bring with them an eerie hush.

Common Quaker

The lamp shone bravely, though, and attracted three caddis fly plus an assortment of predictable moths: Common Quakers, Hebrew Characters and a Brindled Beauty. But there was also the pretty Powdered Quaker, above. Its name defies the simple traditions of the Society of Friends who have never been big on make-up. But it's a very pretty moth, I think they'd agree.

Pale Pinion

A Pale Pinion came for the second time this year, below. An interesting feature of this moth is that it emerges in the Autumn, overwinters in a hiding place under loose bark or in stone wall crevices, and then re-emerges in the Spring when it mates. It has two completely different diets, thank to this life cycle. In the Autumn it sups from over-ripe blackberries and ivy flowers. At this time of the year, it dines off catkins.

And again, from the side