More moth mig

The alarm went off at the usual 5am today and I was shocked to notice it still seemed dark. For the first time in literally weeks and weeks it was overcast and at around 830am there was actually a very brief period of very light rain. Unfortunately no respite for the thirsty and dry land locally but there has been some rain regionally and importantly some rain in the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands where a national emergency was declared recently due to wildfires. We are heading there on our summer holidays next week so this is good news for us as they were evacuating villages near to where we are planning on staying.

National emergencies have been declared, due to wildlfires, in France and Spain and actually near to where we went on holiday in France this time last year. We actually booked Scotland this year as mitigation for weather risk because it always seems a gamble booking a summer holiday in southern Europe now due to the risk of oppressive heat and wildfires (I almost dipped Blue Chaffinch in Gran Canaria due to wildfires too during the summer holidays). 

There's always a call during these situations for someone to do something about the climate emergency but I think as most people agree, the ability to make long term plans or mitigate for future risk is not possible in our governing systems. A liberal democracy with a four year rolling political system can only make short term plans and react to emergencies. Nobody is going to vote for compulsory responsible consumption and travel and no corporate lobbyists are going to lobby poltiicains for redistribution of wealth, the reconnection of people to nature and a more eco-social blueprint to governing systems. 

Sadly we are on this ride to the bitter end- escalating climate chaos, a deepening ecological crisis and the fundamental collapse of our economic systems. It's either blindingly obvious that we are in the midst of this or just willful blindness. 

Anyway the 'upside' of the climate emergency is the great moth trapping and studying (and getting inspired by) how our co-inhabitants of this planet are adapting to climate change and the insects are certainly on the march northwards and dispersing in these conditions. The highlight in the light traps last night among 92 species were four Striped Hawkmoths and six NFYs in total. There was also another Light Crimson Underwing. So its not all bad news! 

Striped Hawkmoth- usually a denizen of the desert and southern Europe

A well marked Gypsy Moth- not all our insect colonisers are welcome, In 1995 the government tried to eradicate this potential pest but have since given up. 

I'm getting to the stage where I'm not posting photos of former mega migrants (such as Ni-moths and Bordered Straws etc) but I can't bring myself not to post this bad photo of our third Light Crimson Underwing which a few weeks ago was on top of the wish list

Marbled Green- a new for year

Saltmarsh Knothorn- a first for year

Clay Triple-lines- another NFY

Black-dot Stilt, Caloptilia populetoreum- NFY

Before family summer holiday proceedings, which today included going to church and then to the theme park rollercoastering (above) I popped into Mill Lane marsh to see if any waders had dropped in with the frontal conditons- 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Snipe and 12 Teal was all I could muster up