Chocolate-tip

Another busy day when photography was rather low on the list of priorities. The switch on our kettle broke off yesterday, so I had to dash into Peterborough to get a replacement - I didn't want to risk unhappy workmen! Of course, the model I liked best wasn't in stock, so I ended up getting a more expensive version, but it does seem very good, and heats water to different temperatures - at last I can drink my green tea without having to boil the water and allow it to cool! I also went to buy a blind for the bathroojm, but when Ii actually saw it, decided I didn't like it after all!

Then it was a quick dash to Sainsbury's before friends cam at lunchtime. I took Alex, Ben, Charley and John down to the river, where they had a picnic and spent the afternoon swimming and boating. Ross and I sat in the garden under a shady tree, drank tea and chatted - a pleasant break from a fairly full-on week. We both went down to pick the young people up at the end of the afternoon, and I was amazed to see how many people were down there - picnicking and playing in the river - and virtually all of them were east European. I have to admit to feeling a bit sad, as this used to be a quiet area, little known about, and today there was noise and litter which rather spoilt the pastoral atmosphere.

I didn't really think about photography until after dark, so another moth was called into service. The chocolate-tip moth can be found in the southern half of England and Wales, but elsewhere only in parts of Scotland. The English population has two generations, with adults at large in April and May, and again in August and September while in Scotland the species is single-brooded, flying from June to July. It lives in woodland areas where the larvae feed on poplars, especially aspen as well as sallow. I tried to encourage it to sit on some willow leaves, but it preferred my wooden spoons. I love the rich shading of the brownish patch at the end of the wing, as well as the cute little tail tuft. Always a nice find in the moth trap.