Chinese Character moth

There were 74 moths in the trap this morning of 26 species. Among those caught were Riband Wave, Antler Moth, Dunbar, Flame Carpet and this Chinese Character. The latter overwinters as a cocoon and the caterpillar feeds mainly on Blackthorn, Hawthorn and Crab Apple. It is resident and quite widely distributed.

Andrew, Raymond, Bethany and Chris all came to volunteer today. They variously bonfired off some old wood, strimmed paths, pulled some birch and cleared out an inlet pipe to one of our ponds.

We had lots of visitors including 15 people from a walking group who had a picnic outside in the afternoon sunshine.

There is a large beautiful specimen of Fly Agaric on the path at the top of the woodland walk.