December Moth...in November

Despite its name, this beautiful moth is actually on the wing from mid-November, or even earlier. The males are a lot smaller than the females and have very feathery antennae which they use to locate the females by scent. The antennae are wonderfully curved, which can be seen more easily here. Although this it's a relatively common species, this is the first record for our garden, probably because there November or December nights are rarely warm enough to make it worth putting the moth trap on.

I spent the day in London, at the Botanical Society of the British Isles Annual Exhibition, held at the Natural History Museum. The exhibition itself was interesting and I met some useful contacts who'll help me in my new role as joint recorder for South Lincolnshire. But travellling around London on a Saturday so close to Christmas was a nightmare.

When I arrived at King's Cross the underground station had just been closed, because all their safety systems had failed. There were lots of police directing the crush of people towards Euston and Russell Square. When I finally arrived at Euston, after shuffling along with the crowd, station officials were controlling access to the underground, to avoid it becoming dangerously overcrowded, so lots more queues. The Northern line was partially shut which meant I had to go back to King's Cross (which had been re-opened) to catch a Piccadilly line train to South Kensington.

Things weren't much better on the way home. I left relatively early because I know how busy it can get when the museums close, but because the Circle line was shut the trains were jam-packed. I was hemmed into a corner surrounded by a heaving mass of humanity who weren't averse to wheeling a pushchair over my foot, or poking me with their bags. I can definitely say I've never been so glad to get back from London. I don't know how the transport system's going to cope during the Olympics next year!