Monday 6 August 2012

Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright

Today I took my nephew on his annual pilgrimage to try & see Garden Tiger Moths at Spurn.  Some years there are literally hundreds lying under the VTS Radar Tower.  They were definitely in smaller numbers this morning, but then August is quite late in the season.  Despite it being August we did manage to find a few which seemed to be almost pristine, but the majority were well-worn, and were probably nearing the end of their all too short lives.  This time it was even possible to see that some of the circular dark spots on the red underwings actually appear to be very dark blue rather than brown or black.  
A bright individual resting by the side of the Humber Pilots Tower
 At rest in more natural surroundings
 The blue on the spots on the underwing can best be seen in this photo
 On this worn individual with its wings more widely-spread, you can see that the body is also red
 A 'Woolly Bear' - the caterpillar of the Garden Tiger  - taken a few weeks ago - there were still some of these around today

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