September 27th

10pm: The sudden warm weather has brought out the neighbourhood moths for a final fling before winter sets in. This beautiful specimen  was sitting on the hall floor as I locked up this evening.

July 7th

11pm: This large moth flew in through the open kitchen door this evening & had to be rescued from the lampshade, it didn't seem any worse for wear. A bit of googling showed it to be a St Lawrence Tiger Moth.....fond of Birch, Aspen & all the other trees that are in the forest a few yards from our back door.

June 13th

10am. At last a relatively warm night & the kids insist on the back porch light being left on. Here Tabby shows why with this large Smerinthus cerisyi, more commonly known as the one-eyed sphinx moth. These things are huge, you can hear their wings humming & seem to be pretty common here - although endangered elsewhere I hear. Not unusual to be woken by Tabby thrusting one she has caught into my face early on a weekend morning!!

May 17th

8am. Now with the warm evenings it's moth season - I leave the outdoor light on most nights so that in the morning we get a selection of moths for Tabby & charlie to study - they love it & some of the bigger moths we will get in July are amazing. Afraid to say Charlton crashed out of the Play-offs today, beaten on penalties in a roller-coaster of a match - as I lay slumped on the sofa after Swindon's winning kick, Charlie came over and hugged me - poor boy didn't have a clue as to why I had been shouting at the TV and was now a picture of pure despondency, it's OK Daddy he kept saying, it's OK....