Sunday May 20

I woke up at 06.00 am this morning and tiptoed to the bathroom. The second most important reason for this visit was that I had caught a tiny moth on the landing the night before and wanted to cool it down on the windowsill in the hope of photographing it later.

However, as I approached the window I realised I could hear, faintly but persistently, a Cuckoo calling. This is the first I have ever heard from our garden, and also a patch tick. Adey, who I used to chat to when I would bump into him at Arrow valley lake, had told me he had seen one targeting the Reed Warblers there in recent years, but I never got close.

As for the moth. Well I got a shot of sorts, but it obviously hadn't calmed down all that much and it soon took off and flew to the top of the apple-tree. I believe it was was Bryotropha affinis, a species I have recorded in the bathroom before.

Bryotropha affinis

Our bathroom is still proving a better bet for micros than the moth trap.