^ My little sister once clouted one of those with a baseball bat whilst on holiday in the US - killed outright of course


https://i.imgur.com/XKq1ItF.jpg

I was just out in the garden doing some pruning and this little fella fluttered across the lawn and hid in the bushes. He's the aptly named Brimstone Moth, a day flying moth often mistaken for a butterfly

Ours - their favoured food plants are blackthorn (sloe) and hawthorn, both here in abundance but scarcely seen in built-up areas; they wouldn't dare grow in my mother-in-law's garden

It's been another very bad year for butterfly watchers - even if we do start to see more continental types establishing themselves in England, one would expect that the same factors causing such a decline here will affect them also

https://i.imgur.com/jV7wYox.jpg

Here's a Speckled Wood photographed just now - a country butterfly (ours is a rural spot) by no means scarce as a rule. These are probably the easiest of all to photograph: they show no fear of man, returning to the same favourite spot no matter how often disturbed. This they fiercely defend against all others of their species who wander into their territory - normally a woodland glade - and the two will spiral upwards in a dance-like combat, a common sight in the forests

Keep your back to that garden wall when pruning
 

"Giant sex-crazed moths are set to arrive in Kent this summer"

https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-...hs-set-1690956

^Play your cards right Mister Squirrel and you could bag yourself one of those. :03:

I think I'd need a gun

Moth found in West London is a new species from Western Australia
 

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/...local%20expert.

As I expected, it's a pretty boring looking thing even to a moth enthusiast. Reece probably has these in his wallet

Orange Tip
 

https://i.imgur.com/GyH7Vao.jpeg

No there are no orange tips - this is the female, photographed today on the wild garlic in the garden. Very warm now and after having millions of bees visit our crab-apple tree (there were pathetically few last Spring) I'm more hopeful of seeing butterflies in 2024; 2023 was a total washout

https://i.imgur.com/aaApUvz.jpeg Wed 8th and a male came along