Modern life is full of acronyms, and so I thought I would invent a new one! This one has nothing to do with a certain range of soft drinks but describes my temporary role while Brenda is away for a couple of days: Very Important Moth Trap Operative.**
On my first day in the role I was delighted to be able to actually identify some of the moths, including some – you’ve guessed it! – large yellow underwings! I did manage one other identification, an angleshades, before sending photos of everything else to Brenda.
Brenda writes: “I’m on retreat on a little campsite near West Harling on the edge of Thetford Forest. I last came here in June 2022 because I could see from the OS map that there were lovely walks locally.
Today I headed out first to West Harling church which is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, then on along footpaths that took me through flood-meadows to a bridge across the river Thet. Here I paused for a cup of tea while watching leaves flutter down to join others already floating lazily along the river.
The path then took me along the riverbank and onto West Harling Common, a strip of scrubby heathland between the river and the edge of the forest. In this mild weather there were lots of flowers still in bloom or starting again, and I was pleased to see musk thistle which is distinctive in having drooping flower heads with smooth stalks.”
No new species for October 5th:
TOTALS TO DATE:
Birds = 221
Moths = 245
Wildflowers = 286
** The acronym does not make completely clear, however, what it is that is “Very Important”. Is it the moth trap or me? I’ll leave that one for you to ponder…..