I had the most amazing moth in the trap this morning:

It gave me a shock because at first it looked like this:

It was only when it got jiggled about a bit that it flashed those eyes at me and gave me a bit of a scare – which is exactly what it tries to do to insectivorous birds to give the moth a chance to escape.

There were also three other species of Hawk Moth on the trap: The Lime Hawk Moth

Several Elephant Hawk Moths:

And the Small Elephant Hawk Moth:

What fantastic moths these Hawk Moths are. Still waiting for the mother of all Hawk Moths to turn up in the trap – the Death’s Head Hawk moth:

This is the UK’s largest moth – 8 – 12 cm wingspan – and with a skull-like marking on its thorax. Its an immigrant and so here in East Kent we should be in a good position to one day see one.