Tue 23/07/2019

Any foray onto a hedge of nettles will kick up a huge cloud of mother-of-pearl moths at the moment. I found this one in the alley behind the house. I must admit, I had never realised how gossamer-thin their wings are – the sun is shining through this leaf and showing green through the moth's light-brown wings.

My wife said there was a tiger moth fluttering around under the car today, but I found it inside the hallway. Later in the evening it had found its way to the bathroom, where I photographed it and then conspired to heave it out of the window. This is the Jersey tiger moth, which my field guide says is still a rare sight along the extreme southern edge of the country, but in fact it has now colonised the south-east to the point of being extremely common.