Hello again! It's been a long while but life has been busy. I don't suppose moths ever live long enough to have grandchildren but if they did, they would understand. It's also been quiet. Moth numbers this year are well down on previous seasons, not just for me but for others in this part of the UK.
Perhaps the wet winter with two very cold periods which lasted longer than the usual snaps is responsible. We must wait while the experts discuss and decide. Perhaps the warmer weather will bring contrasting abundance. I hope so.
Meanwhile here are my first favourites of the familiar year's round: the debut hawk moths. The Poplar always hatches first and this is a smart pair which arrived yesterday, two days after a single one was snoozing in the trap on my birthday, 18th May. They were sleeping in the familiar resting position with their big grey wings overlapping but the process of decanting the eggboxes led them to flash their warning patches of maroony-red in an obliging way.
The earliest Poplar arrivals in my 20-odd years of trapping have been right at the start of May; but patience is a virtue and everything comes to those who wait.