in the midst of the mist

...after our sunny weekend away, it was a tad disappointing to find that it was wet back in Dorset. Heavy rain overnight turned into drizzle and mist that has deprived us of any view all day. We were expecting to be in Christchurch all day, but a change to our schedule has postponed this until tomorrow.

By 4pm it had become apparent that the mist was not going to lift and what light there was was rapidly failing. Consequently, I walked up to Townsend Quarry nature reserve to see what I could find. What I mostly found was snails. Big ones. Small ones. None as big as your hat, but many interesting ones and others doing interesting things. In fact, I was fully expecting to be posting a snail this evening until I spotted this bejewelled beauty. It is the 1st instar of the Oak Eggar Moth, Lasiocampa quercus. I use the term instar because the caterpillar of this species undergoes several remarkably different changes during its development. Its name does not relate to the larval food plant but to the fact that its cocoon looks like an acorn. I think this is the first time that I have had to push the ISO to 640 to overcome the poor light.

The forecast leaves me with a strong feeling that I will be glad of a few snails in a day or two - watch this space...