Gleeful at the Green

                                          

A wonderful and unexpected way to start July: the trap's contents were plentiful but only of modest interest but everything changed when I got out the mower to tidy the garden for a big arrival of family this coming weekend.

My crashing about on the edge of the lawn where long grass and weeds had formed a thicket startled a vivid and large green moth which - presumably only half-woken - headed for refuge quickly in our Garrya bush rather than soaring away. I saw where it went,  crept over and managed to get these pictures, the top one taken after it had moved obligingly to a sunnier spot.

It is a Large Emerald, a beautiful moth which I have seen once in Leeds and once previously here, though my Google searching has yet to track down the posts in which I recorded those arrivals. I know, however, that I would have been ecstatic as it is one of my top moths. It is officially common but I have seen them very seldom. Satisfying indeed!

In the trap meanwhile, there was this delicate Small Fan-footed Wave and one of the smallest of all the UK's macro moths, the well-named Short-cloaked. After them, perched on an eggbox in its unmistakeable resting pose with the jagged browny wings folded over the back, is an Early Thorn. 

This next little beauty is another of the 'Laura Ashley' moths, so reminiscent of the floaty white milkmaid clothes which Penny and other delightful young women used to wear when we were all young. This is a heavily-patterned Single-dotted Wave, rather a misnomer compared to 'Short-cloaked' but an even prettier visitor.

Next comes when of the Elephant Hawks which are currently abundant followed by a partial view of another one's angled wing like a jet plane's, sheltering a third delightful milky white and grey moth, the Chinese Character (or in my argot, Bird Poo moth, in honour of its exceptionally original camouflage).

And finally, I am uncertain about this duller but still appealing Laura Ashley also-ran. Might it be a rather worn Small Dusty Wave?  I will try to find out and let you know.