Don't you love it when a creature seems to deserve the name it has been given, ones which do what it says on the tin, such as Pied Wagtail or Pond Skater.
And here's another - the moth called the Silver Y.
There it is, right in the middle of the wing - a silver 'Y'. Perfect.
What camouflage too! Here it is, sat on the dried seedhead of a plantain, its back with all sort of knobbles and protruberances to break up its outline.
This is an amazing moth because it can only occasionally survive our winters. Instead it flies in each year from the continent, breeds, and by late summer it becomes one of our commonest moths.
And it is one you can see in gardens right across the country, especially because it flies by day as well as night, flitting endlessly from flower to flower. I tend to find it on plants such as Hemp Agrimony, Buddleia, knapweeds and scabiouses.
And here was one of many I saw a couple of weeks ago on our old friend, Verbena bonariensis.
In the photo it looks like it was posed like a nectaring butterfly, but in reality its wings were a-flicker constantly.
So keep your eyes peeled - they'll be here for a few more weeks until the weather turns really cold.
I took up mothing 16 months ago. I live in a village environment in North Wiltshire and have a slightly larger than tennis court sized garden in which I have several fruit trees, stacks of flowers - both native and cultivar and in that time I have trapped, identified, photographed and released 210 species of macro moth and 78 species of micro moth. For a small outlay it really is a very rewarding way of getting close to nature. This year I have had a first for Wiltshire (the Gypsy Moth) and a Pearl Underwing migrant. The Silver Y is a cracking moth: but so are most of them. I have just had rather a large pond dug, which we are in the process of planting up, and I am hoping to get even more diversity next year. We found our first frog in it a week ago.
Sure is some tongue, Cirrus. When you consider it also extends right down inside those Verbena flowers too to the nectaries at the base, all the more amazing.
We also had a Silver Y in the Wildlife Garden here at RSPB Saltholme yesterday. It too was vibrating its wings in the warm autumn sun
I don't know if they were Silver Y moths that I spotted earlier this week when I went to put out the ground feeder at about 06.15. The security light disturbed them feeding on Pansies, and it was pouring with rain! I was amazed that they could fly in such a downpour.
Awesome and beautiful. Thank you Adrian. What a tongue !!