Cat Trap

A solution to my morning Robin problem, as described three posts ago, unexpectedly offered itself this week. I was checking the eggboxes while keeping a wary eye on the pestilential bird, which darts into the eggboxes if I turn away for a second, when I saw a bigger movement out of the corner of my eye.

It was the cat which we've been baby-sitting for a while and it leaped up nimbly on to the garden table and examined my activities, as in the photo above. After a while, it jumped back down on to a garden chair and busied itself with grooming, the endless pursuit of these commendably fastidious pets. It took no interest whatever in the moths within inches of its nose, including a series of Brindled Beauties whose coats much resemble its own.

The Robin scarpered immediately and stayed well away for the rest of my session checking the night's arrivals, even after the cat had wandered off to find something more interesting to do. I can't rely on its returning so helpfully on a regular basis, but maybe the Robin will be more prudent for a while.

Here are more of the Brindled Beauties, below, whose arrival in good numbers has coincided with a visit by our grandchildren. Moths have been sparse during their stay but they were also treated to a decent influx of Muslin moths and were interested to see their TV aerial antennae and yellow kneebreeches, the latter enjoyably at odds with their generally sober appearance.

The Beauties have good antennae - though only the males which are the ones which come to the light trap; females are seldom seen. But the Muslin moth is better; here it is below, both in the conventional perching position and then showing its two striking features, as described above. 

Elsewhere in the eggboxes, among a lot of Hebrew Characters and Common Quakers, was another new species for the year, the soft, grey Powdered Quaker, an attractive moth which is well-named. Beside it was the caterpillar below, whose ID I will try to track down.

I've also added another butterfly to my list for the year; the common but delicately patterned Green-veined White whose prominent rear wing veins on the underside are actually grey but trick the eye into seeing a greenish tinge. I'm sorry that my photo is so poor but the butterfly was restless and fluttered off every time that I got anywhere near.