A mad twenty minutes

 As part of my continuing attempts to obtain a decent image of a Bat sp. flying over/around our garden I have been setting up the moth trap, Fox and hedgehog feeding stations around 20.30 hrs. This ensures that I am able to have the camera kit, ready and waiting, as darkness approaches. The camera is mounted upon my tri-pod and focussed around 5m into a clear area behind our Budlehia and next door's Hawthorn bushes which provide a sheltered spot where the bats seem to favour. Well that's the theory. Last night they weren't playing ball. Four times the Magenta 5 Bat Detector alerted me to the approach of these nocturnal creatures and four times they flew straight past me and continued along the hedgerow, never to return! What did happen was even more strange than if I'd have managed to capture my trophy shot! Hedgehogs are doing well in the local area and it's not unusual to see six, or eight, in a single evening as they come to the feeding station and scavenge the lawn around the moth trap "fence". It was just 20.50 hrs and the first one came snuffling out of the undergrowth, completely oblivious to my presence. It actually wandered up to me and licked my foot, I was wearing flip-flops, before deciding that something wasn't right and moving off towards the neighbour's garden. Absolutely crazy, because not ten minutes later another, much smaller animal, walked through the legs of the tri-pod and did exactly the same thing? However, this individual was on a mission and made it's way across the lawn and over to the feeding bowl. By 21.10 hrs, I knew that my chance of a photo had passed, so started to pack the kit away when I became aware of a sizeable moth flying around the Nicotiana plants right outside my study doorway. Camera kit safely indoors, I grabbed my net and went outside to see if it was still present. It was, and certainly not the Hawk-moth sp. I'd expected. Quickly netted, it turned out to be another real good'un! A Dark Crimson Underwing, in pristine condition, was quickly potted up and placed in my fridge prior to getting my photos this morning!

Dark Crimson Underwing

Although my mothing is nowhere close to being serious, I am certainly getting some outstanding species in the garden this year. Surely that first Striped Hawk-moth can't be too far away? 

P.S. I'll be back outside, this evening, doing exactly what I'd done yesterday. If the Hedgehogs repeat their antics I will, hopefully, have a second camera handy and capture a record shot?