Chilling out

A nicely warm afternoon tempted the Speckled Wood, above, into our garden yesterday. But by 5.30pm, it had started to turn into a chilly evening, so much so that we lit the fire for the second time in three days. The moths were not deterred, however. They provided me this morning with one of the most varied group of guests of the year so far.

My favourite was this hairy old fellow, the Pale Tussock, pictured above alongside a Caddis fly with a neat little quiff, and below with one of its woolly-breeched forelegs reaching out in a doglike fashion. Usually it extends both of them in this way.

Pale Tussock

Then we had a Shears, or as I call it a Secateurs which seems a better description of the little blades on its forewings.

Next, one of the various Marbled Minor species which are hard to tell apart without dissecting intimate body parts. Not my cup of tea. Over on the Upper Thames Moths blog, Mark Griffiths observed recently that early MMs tend to be strongly-marked round here (the species vary a lot in colouring), and this is certainly a darkly handsome one.

Side view

and from above.

Very different now: a couple of delicate Silver-ground Carpets;

and an interesting contrast between two Heart and Darts, the first with a cheery flourish and the second more conventional in patterning. The Moth Bible notes that the patterns can vary and sometimes, as in this case, produce streaks.

Next we have a Clouded Drab Update: actually I think that this may be a Rustic Shoulder-knot. I will check with others more learned. 

A Clouded-bordered Brindle,

a Small Square-spot

a bright-line Brown-eye,

a Setaceous Hebrew Character (on  my dressing gown)

and a Brown Rustic.

Oh and another of those foreign invaders, blown here by the cold weather: a Diamond-back.

A goodly company on a not-very-welcoming night.