Saturday May 19

After a slightly chilly night the day dawned sunny and calm. I was up early, ready to start extracting moths from the moth trap.

Fortunately I remembered John's words of wisdom suggesting I check the immediate environs for moths before I began. This advice prevented me from sitting on the first moth, a Pale Tussock, which resting on the seat of a garden chair.

Pale Tussock

I next checked a wooden box on the table. This contained various gardening implements and an Orange Footman, which was a new moth for me.

Orange Footman

I moved on to the trap itself and found the first of three Muslin Moths, the third of which I found later when I flushed it from a garden chair.

Muslin Moth

Muslin Moth

The box also contained a Brimstone Moth, a Heart and Dart, and my first Bright-line Brown-eye of the year.

Bright-line Brown-eye

Heart and Dart

Brimstone Moth

Later in the morning I ventured back into the garden where I finally managed to get a good look at a white butterfly, a Small White to be precise.

Small White

Finally, a quick comment about birds. I have noticed a lot of concern on Social Media about the shortage of certain migrant species returning from Africa this year, and would generally agree. In particular, although I saw a single Swift over Arrow Valley Lake at the end of April, there have been none over our garden yet. Indeed on a shopping trip to Stratford this afternoon I did finally hear the screaming of Swifts and noticed two or three birds up above. Quite a relief, but it does look like something bad has happened to migrants this winter.