Yes, no picture! It was on the underside of the perspex lid of the collection box of my Heath trap. No way of getting to look at it without opening the trap. I saw it immediately from the underside and could see it was a large pug so I thought it would be something interesting. So I saw it for a few seconds as I turned over the top of the trap and set it down carefully. Went for the camera and.....
It was in perfect condition, I didn't see where it went to, it's possible it went into all the herbage behind the trap in which case it's possible it might be back tonight.
I see from our very excellent atlas that it will be the first record from my little part of Oxfordshire.
Still I did get to see it for a few seconds!
Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.
Been hoping for one for years and as I'm over the road from you my traps going out tonight!.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark,
ReplyDeleteShame you didn't get a picture but that's still a nice record of a stunning little moth! I had a similar incident with a smart Gold Swift brought back home from a small piece of woodland near Wing, Bucks the other night, the first I've seen anywhere since 2016. It decided to "do a runner" just as I was about to photograph it, but instead of going to the window in my study (as most moths do) it headed off in the opposite direction and disappeared somewhere inside the house, never to be seen again. Annoying!