Moth orchid with moth

Another grey autumn day occupied by proof reading and report writing. Rosie has now largely recovered, after one final bout of sickness last night. Gemma is still very poorly, though seemed to be showing some slight improvement this afternoon. We have been in touch with our local veterinary hospital and will be taking her to the vets tomorrow morning.

Rather worryingly there's a possibility that the cause of their sickness could be Seasonal Canine Illness, a potentially devastating disease, first reported in 2009, which affects dogs between August and November. It's most frequent in eastern England and the Midlands with hotspots in Sherwood Forest, Sandringham and Thetford Forest. It develops 24-72hours after walking dogs in woodland, and the symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, high temperature, shaking and lethargy. You can find out more about it on the Animal Health Trust website.

Today's image is of a Madagascan silk moth, which has just hatched out of its cocoon. Its very subtly coloured with dove-grey translucent wings and burnt orange eye-spots. If you look in large you can see that the wings retain a scatter of scales, but they are much less dense than in most moths. The antennae are very smart too. Every now and then Pete puchases a few cocoons from UK butterfly farms just for interest - this one has taken a very long time to emerge!