Tomorrow finally comes

  Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...  I gaily wrote 'more tomorrow' on my last instalment but here I am five days later, only just getting round to it. Sorry! Diversions have included a wonderful 20-mile walk in aid of the charity World Child Cancer and, just yesterday, the thrill of seeing two Black Hairstreak butterflies less than half-a-mile from our front door.  More on that soon (though probably not tomorrow).

So, to round off our lovely fortnight near Gythio in the Greek Mani, here - first picture above - are the cat-catching moths of the Demestichas taverna at Mavravouni beach. Cats are familiar at all Greek tavernas, waiting for scraps and leftovers, usually patiently but not always - see picture below (taken at a different taverna up in the hilltop village) and there were plenty at the Demestichas including two agile kittens. As dusk fell and the outside lights came on amidst a small grove of trees, this pair started leaping into the air.

We looked more closely and discovered that they were catching moths, extremely deftly with a concentrated look followed by what must have been rapid calculation of height and distance, and then a leap and a swipe with a small paw. Down went the moth and up it was scooped. Crunch!  Here's one of the victims, some kind of yellow underwing which was plentiful in the branches of the stunted evergreens.

Here's a final picture showing the invisible process of the kitten calculating how far to jump after the moth - the latter that little grey blur.

Out of curiosity, I typed 'cats catching moths' into Google and guess how many references there were: 1,090,000. You'll be familiar with the perils of getting diverted by viral vids with titles like 'No need for a fly-swatter when you've got a cat', but the general conclusion seemed to be that the practice adds protein to the feline diet, so long as they avoid a small number of toxic species such as the Garden Tiger.

Back in Greece, we had a different take on the entertainment when we went to the same taverna a week later. The cats were making hopeless attempts to catch swallows which nested in the restaurant and the proprietor, a man with an appealing twinkle, startled everyone there by suddenly throwing very loud firecrackers at them. They fled and the moths had a quiet night.