An Emperor Visits

Walking Wednesday:   3.8km

Walking Thursday:       3.9km

Walking Friday:            3.8km

Swimming Friday:        1.15km

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It sounded as if a bat had crashed into the barn windows, injured itself and was thrashing around on the ground. Normally Pip wants to find out everything that is going on but he wasn't interested in investigating the noise in the dark at 11pm.

So, armed with a torch and the iPad I went out and found a huge moth, at least 75mm wingspan, trying to get into the outside light:

Consulting by email with Eric Smith, our reference for all things to do with Butterflies, Moths and Insects, he confirmed what I had found on Wikipedia and identified it as an Emperor Moth. It's a bit away from its usual habitat of heath and heather here but well within its range.

And it's the biggest moth I've ever seen in the wild.