09 June, 2014

Great Oak Beauty

Whilst I consider whether it might be more appropriate to rename the blog 'Bill's Mothing', here are some moths from the garden last night. The white sheet above the trap was still crawling with moths when I finally hit the hay at 2am, so heaven knows what was missed as I slept through the 4:30am alarm and finally awoke to an almost empty trap at 10am.

It's a miracle that this Great Oak Beauty remained undisturbed all morning, but I'm grateful it did- a very welcome first for the garden. Despite its nationally scarce status, the moth appears to be quite well distributed through Surrey with several fellow enthusiasts also getting lucky this week...

Great Oak Beauty- to give an idea of size, I had to pot it up in a pint glass.

The diagnostic underside markings.

Heart & Club and Heart & Dart

The Sycamore- another addition to the garden list, though quite literally overshadowed by the Beauty.

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