The Herald

A perfect day for working in the garden. Alex did some major tree pruning while Pete and I worked on the renovation of one of our ponds, that we'd tried unsuccessfully to convert to a small bog garden. The soil was a complete mat of intertwined roots of spike-rush, pendulous sedges and couch, and has taken several days to clear. The old liner's now been removed and the next step is enlarging and deepening the hole before we lay the new liner. We have plans to renovate anotherpond before winter, and then probably dig a new one in early spring, to replace two which have now largely gone over to marsh. We thought of renovating them, but the vegetation is so well established that it would be a very major task, and the frogs love to lurk among the shady sedges.

So tonight I've been lazy and photographed one of the moths that Pete raised from a caterpillar. The Herald Scoliopteryx libatrix is a rather spectacular moth which is common over much of Britain. It hibernates as an adult, so is often one of the last moths to be seen in one year and one of the first in the next. The colouring helps to camouflage it among dead leaves. Personally, I love the rather natty stripy socks it wears!