We watched a hummingbird hawkmoth feeding on red valerian in the garden today, fascinating to see how they hover, just like a tiny hummingbird. Things are just "hotting up" a bit on the butterfly and moth front now. There were eight speckled wood butterflies out on our adjoining nature reserve today and, if it is going to be sunny and warm in the next few days, we should see common blue, skippers, meadow brown and small coppers which usually emerge then.

Monika, I wish i had my camera, you seem quite knowledgable about moths
and butterflies etc, there is a tiny browish one, with tiny slim striped body and some yellow dot / dash marks on the edge of its wings it is only two centimetres max at its widest point,very dainty, but at least one of these visits my thyme when it flowers each year. I looked at moths and butterflies but couldn't identify it. I also had a hummingbird hawkmoth in the garden yesterday, and a peacock, and red admiral, as you say things are hotting up.

NB

try googling Pyrausta Purpuralis

This is a Pyralid micro moth and we get them in our garden and may the one you see.

I've just made a humane moth trap. Used it for two nights and had lots of beautiful moths in there. Elephant and Poplar Hawk moths and a Scalloped Oak! Squillions of (what I think are) Cabbage Moths, hope they arn't Cabbage whites on night shift ! Cheers, Tony.

MikeA Thank you for that link it's close and could be it, but mine looked smaller, just over one centimetre accross, the one in the link looked more fuzzy and the one on my thyme only had the yellow in dashes along the edge of the wings, not further up the wing

Sorry, MikA, can't identify it by the description. In any case, moths are not my strong point. One of our sons is the moth expert in the family, in fact, he is very much involved in the moth trapping, identification and release at an RSPB reserve where they are holding a moth weekend at this very moment. There are some very good moth books about and it might be worth investing in one of those - I find, though, that even then, there are so many moths, particularly the micros, that most are difficult to identify.

Of butterflies, there are fewer species about in the UK!

Monica,

I have a large and growing library of nature reference books. I sometimes think collecting these is my main hobby. The major problem is deciding which ones to take on trips out.

I was recommended to get "Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland" which lists "all the resident and immigrant macro-moths ....." This is a fabulous guide to these moths and has helped hugely in identifying moths I have taken pictures of in the garden. Unfortunately it states "there are about 2,500 species recorded in the British Isles including some 900 macro moths" as in the book. This leaves 1,600 micros not in the book so it's no wonder they are difficult.

I am always in awe of people such as your son who can identify things from a huge list of options, sometimes on only the flimsiest of clues.

Butterflies are easy in comparison but even then we didn't have a clue what Fritillary we had just seen until we met a gentleman doing his regular transect? and he said it was almost certainly a Silver-Washed. We checked when we got home and maybe now know what to look for next time.