Pining

Yesterday's bumper clutch of moths turns out to have brought me a third entirely new visitor, the Sloe Carpet, which I misidentified (with due hesitation) as the more common regular here, the Oak-tree Pug. Many thanks to Martin Townsend on the Upper Thames Moths blog for putting me right. On top of that, I have a second big crowd of arrivals this morning, starting with the most reticent Pine Hawk moth in my experience.

It had crammed itself so tightly into an eggbox cone that I thought, from a glimpse of the chequers on its wing's leading edge in my second photo below, that it might be a Scalloped Hazel, like the one which came here two nights ago. But a closer look revealed the unmistakeable, slender wing -hape of the hawk, whose streamlining resembles a jet fighter.

The moth took two whole minutes to warm up and fly off, briefly investigated by a robin which zoomed in from its watching position on an apple tree. The moth might have been too fast and jinky but I think that it was also too big. At any rate, the robin had second thoughts and remained on his fence post, maybe wondering about what might have been.

My second source of joy in this morning's catch was this very fine Puss Moth, below, especially after the incident last week when I found just one Puss Moth forewing and suspect the robins and blackbirds - extremely early risers - had arrived before me and found the insect roosting outside the trap. This one was safe inside, beneath one of the lower eggboxes, and admiringly attended by one of the web-weaving Ermine micros - tiny creatures whose pupating nests can envelop entire trees and sometimes parked cars.

You can see in the middle picture why members of this family of UK moths are called Puss and Kittens. The Puss moth also has the most extraordinary caterpillar, with a pair of whips on its tail to deter parasites such as the nasty ichneumon wasp. My younger son found one last year during our Ruby Wedding celebrations, which I take to be propitious. It's the lower one in the picture on the left; the top cattie is a Lime Hawk's which I found on the same occasion. It is in the final stages of its pre-pupating life, with a fine little blue horn on its tail.

Back at the trap this morning, I had the usual cluster of outsiders who preferred not to go inside including no fewer than three male Pale Tussocks. They were joined on the bulbholder by a Knot Grass and a Pebble Prominent.

I must go and make the morning tea now, but here are the other arrivals. I will hope to settle uncertain IDs a little later this morning and perhaps say a bit more about the moths.

Coronet - a handsome moth

Anania perlucidalis micro

I think that this and the moth below are the darker form combusta of the Clouded-bordered Brindle, which I don't recall visiting me before

As above

Eyed Hawk moth

Iron Prominent - one of three in the trap

Turnip moth, I think. Update: No, thanks to Edward in Comments - it's a Large Yellow Underwing. Silly me; though as I mention in Comments, these are scarcer down here than in Leeds where they arrived by the shedload, night after night.

Marbled Minor spp - a species divided into groups which are very hard to tell apart

Common Swift

Orang Footman, I think

And an unklnown caddis fly to finish up with