First, Catch Your Moth....

I've spent much of today moth wrangling. There were quite a few in the trap this morning, and once I'd released some (sometimes accidentally) and picked out a few to try to ID, I started on the task of getting them to pose for photos. I tried a little harder with the camera settings and took a number of shots varying the focus to stack them for the sharpest possible results. The more lively moths went in the fridge to calm them down. Identifying moths is a bit of a learning curve, and some took quite an effort even though I'm starting with the more distinctive ones. Even this one nearly tripped me up, as I'd trapped some Elephant Hawk Moths last year, but as I was looking through one of my guidebooks, I noticed there were 2 types,, and this one is actually the Small Elephant Hawk Moth. Luckily, there is a lot of help on Facebook, so I was able with help, to ID the two I've put in extras as Shoulder stripe Wainscot and Pale Prominent. Whew, almost as challenging as fungi!