Monday May 22

I have been concentrating on completing my breeding bird surveys at Morton Bagot lately, so Winyates East has been rather ignored. Birds in particular.

So the only things I have to report are a couple of garden insects. One of the easier bees to identify seemed to have disappeared last year, but in the last couple of weeks good numbers of Tree Bumblebees have resumed their former status in our garden.

Tree Bumblebee

Bumblebees are generally hard to photograph as they never stay still, so this one warming itself up one morning on the side of the shed was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The last couple of nights have been warm enough to open the bathroom window in the hope that a moth or two might be attracted to the light. Finally, last night, a macro-moth found its way in.

I say macro, it was in fact a pretty small boring looking challenging Pug. After due deliberation I have concluded to my satisfaction that it was in fact a Common Pug.

Common Pug - Eupithicia vulgata

My identification was based on its small size, brownish appearance, black forewing dot, and rather grainy appearance (although to be fair most of my early morning photos could be described in that way).

Other moths are available - thank goodness.