It’s been a good week for lepidoptera at home, with a fly-by Marbled White adding itself to the house list and two new moths, at opposite ends of the spectacular scale. The first, a Small Dotted Buff, isn’t going to win any beauty contests, but the Scarlet Tiger is the moth of the year. There was a good supporting cast, including 11 Hawkmoths last night (and five species for the week).
A couple of walks on the downs had loads of butterflies, with Painted Ladies in abundance, a few Ringlets and a Dark Green Fritillary. It took us ages to find Little Owl this year, but now I know I regularly walk past a nest site, I see one most weeks. On Friday one finally posed for the camera (its mate was less cooperative).
A day Barn Owl ringing produced a mix bag of full and empty boxes, but there were enough chicks for me to ring my first.
