Moth news and yesterday's news

Yesterday I went on an outdoor learning training day in a local country park. We were outside all day, learning of course but with the added bonus of being surrounded by birds and wildlife. It was glorious weather. The bird songs were fantastic to hear, all at once .... Whitethroats, Blackcaps, House Sparrows, Barn Swallows, House Martins, Robins, Song Thrush, Blackbirds, Raven calling, Buzzards soaring and even a Cuckoo calling. A Red Kite flew over our heads too! The Canada Geese had goslings, House Martins were nest building and Blue Tits feeding young in their nest box. There were Fallow Deer and Red Deer. Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming and Green Woodpecker 'laughing' - http://www.british-birdsongs.uk/green-woodpecker/. 
I was in my element! I wanted to go back today with my camera but a few things need doing at home.

Anyway, overnight moths in the moth trap and grass were... 

 

Chocolate-tip. A cute little moth, not very common. Primarily found in southern half of England, Wales and certain parts of Scotland.

 

Bright-line Brown-eye. Description is pretty accurate really - self explanatory. You can see a bright (white) line and a brown eye just above that. Easy to remember and identify. Common in UK. This one is a little worn on the right wing.

 

Peppered Moth - another one whose name is a good description. Blends in well on walls like this. Very common in UK.

 

Pyrausta aurata - a micro moth, tiny, usually seen in daytime. Easy to see and identify. Stunning purple with gold-ish markings and a dark hind wing with cream line.

 

Muslin moth - according to our daughter using the in-phrase of the year "cute 'n' fluffy"! this delightful little moth is not very colourful but always lovely to see. Males are brown in colour like this one and females are white. Quite common in the UK.

 

Cochylis atricapitana - a micro moth. Well distributed throughout UK but slightly tricky to identify as there are so many similar ones. Use the micro moth guide book for help or ask an expert.

male

 

female.

Light Brown Apple Moth, another micro species. Very common and numbers start to increase now. We usually end up getting into the low hundreds during a hot summer! It was an Australian species but may have been accidentally introduced in to England in the 1930s http://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/epiphyas-postvittana/adult/

 

Treble lines - another moth whose name describes it's look. Again, common throughout the UK.

After all this, we walked our daughter to school whilst she rode her bike again - trying to do it every Friday weather permitting. We got to school and she spotted a Brindled Beauty moth on the school wall.
Having then gone round the corner into school yard she ran back to calling us saying there was an Eyed Hawkmoth on the wall too. Armed with camera today and husband with mobile phone camera we immediately realised it wasn't that at all - it was in fact an Emperor Moth! 

 A truly magnificent moth. Quite large. Day flying moths and occasionally attracted to light. It was on the wall near the night light of the school. Amazing! You just don't see many of these. Make the most of it when you do.

I hope you've enjoyed today's moth news and that it inspires you to have a go at looking for and identifying moths where you live.