Jersey Tiger

 

Photo credit: David Gill

There has been a lot of publicity in recent days about the Jersey Tiger moth. I had never seen one until this afternoon when we noticed this one on the beach at Landguard, near Felixstowe. We have had the occasional Ruby Tiger in the garden and have seen one or two Scarlet Tigers (mainly in Cornwall), but this was my first Jersey. 

What a beautiful insect! And there is something rather ethereal about it in flight when the striking orange-red underwings are displayed.  

 

Resting on the groyne

 

Wonderful striped legs!

On the beach. Photo credit: David Gill

 

A flutter of jungle red

 

We thought we had a Cinnabar moth flying around our wild garden yesterday afternoon, but I think you will agree that it was a Ruby Tiger ... or three 😊. Another 2025 species for the garden list.

Landguard Nature Reserve again... and a new Moth

We returned to the Landguard Nature Reserve yesterday afternoon and were delighted to see a new moth, which we think is probably a Treble-bar. I am waiting for the folk on iSpot to come to my aid over the ID.

We noticed this bird hopping about on its orange legs on one of the groynes. It seems to be a Turnstone (well, two of us think this is what it is), but perhaps its plumage is in an in-between stage. 

It was wonderful to be back on the water's edge...

...though there was a bit of sea fret over Felixstowe beyond the person in the distance.

Wonderful pebbles!

Turning inland a little, I noticed this plant, which I think may be Black Nightshade.

Landguard holds a very strategic position, and there are a number of grim reminders of past conflict, like this WW2 bunker pill box.

Speaking of happier things, we were delighted to see Common Blue butterflies in reasonable numbers. They were mainly low down in the grass, which made photography a challenge!

This one is on a stem of what I assume is Rest harrow. 

We also saw a couple of Brown Argus butterflies. The spot on the wing is quite marked and the abdomen quite long so I think this is the right ID.

Outside the fenced-in areas on the reserve there were lots of signs of rabbit activity... and we finally got to see two of the burrow-makers!

 

My view of the Elephant Hawk-moth Larva

Having posted a few photos taken earlier in the week by David of an Elephant Hawk-moth larva he had seen en route to the nearest Post Office, I was absolutely delighted this afternoon to learn that there was a caterpillar in very close proximity to our home. As you can see it was busy eating its way through some Rosebay Willowherb leaves when I arrived.

I like the way its shape seems to mirror the grass seedhead just below it!

Not much left of the plant!

Elephant Hawk-moth larva

We seem to be a day or two behind most wildlife spotters at the moment!

I had seen several pictures of this rather handsome Elephant Hawk-moth larva on social media, and had remarked to David how interesting it would be to see one. I would also like to see the adult moth with its pink and green-gold markings.

Well, he took a parcel to the letterbox yesterday, passing some rough ground with a clump of Rosebay Willow Herb, and came back with these photos, which he has allowed me to share.  

One website compared the length of this caterpillar to an adult's finger, and the centimetre rule in the photo above will give a more accurate picture. The distinctive eye-like markings help to ward off potential predators: there is a good feature on 'fake eyes' here. 

David revisited the waste ground today, and made a short video of the larva munching away, which you can see here.

Day 16 #30DaysWildCreativity: Welcome to the night

Dr Miriam Darlington's #30DaysWildCreativity activity for today is to respond to the phrase 'Welcome to the night'. Since my camera flash is barely adequate for night-time photography and since I feel more at home with image than sound, I decided to make a collage of some of my crepuscular photos. The photographs were taken 

• at home (Swallowtail moth, hedgehog) 
• elsewhere in a Suffolk (Barn owl and 'Mabel' the Tawny owl) 
• on Lindisfarne (Curlew, moon, murmuration, birds on rocks, rabbit), 
• in South Wales (stag) 
• in the Kilmartin area of Scotland (Common toad). 

This, of course, leaves the owls and the mouse on the organ, who were spotted in a church in Cornwall, and have been included to represent a night time soundscape!
 

#30DaysWild, Day 8: Knapweed Surprise

I seem to have been preoccupied with correspondence during the last 36 hours, so, with some reluctance, I will pass over Dr Miriam Darlington's tempting #30DaysWildCreativity meme offered today by her guest, Sarah Acton, though I would like to try it at some point. 

Instead I have opted for this morning's discovery which follows on perfectly from yesterday's post about the new Knapweed plant in our wild garden...

Look! Caterpillars at last! 

I am pretty excited, particularly since they were not there yesterday, and I'm not entirely sure I know whose larvae they are (I had wondered Angle Shades since the moth had been in the area, but I am not sure the pictures match). I am in the process of trying to find out, but do leave a comment if you can help. 

In yesterday's post I wrote about what insects the Knapweed might attract, little thinking that by this morning there would be at least four hungry mouths feeding on the plant. The weather has not been particularly bright or warm, but, as they say, what a difference a day makes...

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UPDATE, August 2020

Having guessed these were moth larvae, I am now wondering if they might be Hoverfly larvae. The reason is the photo in the pop-up window labelled 'Hoverfly larvae' on this UK Safari page. Other suggestions from kind folk on iSpot are both types of Orthosia; O. gracilis (Powdered Quaker) and O. gothica (Hebrew Character) and

Scarlet Tiger Moth

Who says moths are dull?

I have been meaning to post these moth photographs for ages. I posted the pictures on iSpot months ago, hoping for confirmation of my identification, but sadly I am still waiting. Perhaps some kind blogger will come to my aid instead!

We were at NT Trerice (such beautiful grounds...) in Cornwall back in late June when we became aware of a flutter over the flower bed. Amazingly, the insect came to rest, with forewings tightly together. We waited and watched, and to our delight, the moth eventually opened its wings, revealing the beautiful scarlet that you see in the photo above. I don't know whether the yellow marks, as opposed to the white marks, on the forewing are pale because the moth had just emerged: I had expected them to be brighter.

This was a first sighting for me and I am smitten! I hope I may get my eye in next year, and find some more... 

#mothsmatter

Leaf-miners are Larvae!

There has been much media coverage today for the school strike by young people against climate change. I have been thinking back to those balmy, if 'unnatural', February days when sightings of early butterflies graced the pages of @twitter, and I began to wish that I had a 2019 butterfly photo of my own to share. We visited NT Wicken Fen, a renowned site for biodiversity, but any lurking butterflies eluded me.

Since then we have been battered by Storm Gareth, which comes and goes in pulses, bearing a chill wind in its wake at times. What, I wonder, has become of those early butterflies?

I checked the garden this morning for signs of a return to spring, and found a 7-spot Ladybird but few other signs of insect life. I was about to come indoors when a rather scruffy bramble caught my attention, and I noticed the leaf-miner trail in the photo above. I knew virtually nothing about the creatures who make these so it seemed a good moment to learn (so please let me know if any of the text that follows needs a tweak!).

I discovered that these insects are larvae, a thought that had not previously crossed my mind. Furthermore, it turns out that these ones are lepidopteran larvae. OK, so there are no bright-winged butterflies for me to photograph and enjoy this morning, but there is the excitement of discovering that the small miners who leave a corridor-trail (known, it seems as a 'gallery', patterned with 'frass') will become moths, probably Stigmella aurella (and here for Suffolk sightings) or a similar Stigmella species. 

The adult moth, while not without a certain charm, is not the most exciting creature in terms of appearance. The wingspan of this species of Nepticulidae is less than a centimetre. The fact that these insects are part of the Nepticulidae family indicates that they have eye-caps over their eyes. We quite often see Mint Moths in our garden, but I cannot recall seeing a leaf mine moth, such as the Golden Pigmy, when they are on the wing in May. Photos of the larval stage can be seen here.

Those of you who follow my blog may know that I like to contribute data to insect recording surveys. I see there is a rather comprehensive Leaf-miner Moth Recording scheme here. 

Many of my UK readers will be aware that Butterfly Conservation have just launched a new awareness initiative in the face of a serious decline called #MothsMatter. It seeks to show us why moths matter as pollinators and as an important element in the food chain. Many of us admire these insects for their variety and beauty.

Here at home we have a dedicated wildlife patch in our garden. We also have a few self-seeded Buddleia butterfly-bushes (including one growing up through out tarmac drive!). I have three insect hotels. There is a ready supply of water, and while a slab by the french window may not be the ideal space for a bramble, I see no reason why the larvae should be disturbed.

I had a couple of moths on the outside of my window last night: here's to a summer ahead of knowledge, wonder, conservation ... and moths.