Out doing big butterfly count today (
link) for third or fourth year in a row. The meadows were bursting with meadow browns, whites, skippers and ringlets, a few silver washed fritillaries and the occasional red admiral, tortoiseshell and small copper. In amongst all these butterflies it is easy to miss the moths. Most moths (of which there are thousands of species) are extraordinarily difficult to identify, mainly because no one appears to have come up with a colour coded identification chart or web page for simple minded people. The top photo is a common Wainscot (I don't know how they get their names), and the bottom photo is probably a smoky wave (both on the balance of probability rather than certainty!).
And above is a close up of a small skipper. No blue butterflies at all again for the second year in a row.
