I have managed to identify the moth I saw in the chicken run recently.
Interesting moth
I googled it and it is a scarlet tiger moth. They are seen in June and July in Southern Britain. They fly in sunshine and are active during the day and night. All these things fit perfectly.
I also looked up their caterpillars and they are black and yellow. We recognised them from the garden so further proof.
I also spotted two more mullein moth caterpillars.
The caterpillars have completely stripped the verbascum
They have annihilated our vebascum. We cut it down with the caterpillars attached and put it over our back fence onto the strip of woodland.
Note to Jenny. I always reply to every comment. I went back to my last post about these caterpillars to remind myself which moth they turn into and saw that my reply to you didn’t appear.
You are right that it is good to get a correct identification and it was the spot pattern that was the clue in the end. Sorry to hear that your most of your chicks may be boys but it’s good that you have homes for them.
It will probably turn out that I replied on the wrong post but never mind. As this is my blog I don’t mind talking directly on a post sometimes.
It’s definitely the time of year for wild life. We have spotted a little mouse in the garden quite frequently and have spotted the slow worms all grown up now. It is fun spotting new things and trying to identify them even if they are not always good for the garden as in the case of the caterpillars!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Haha!! That’s ok. It was the spots for me too. They’re beautiful caterpillars- I’ve only had one this year on figwort – shame about your verbascum though. You’re right it is a great time of year for wildlife. I go out every night as it gets dark to fling slugs and snails away from my veggies, and nearly every night I see a lovely little toad and several frogs.
Slugs are a nightmare, as you for the veg and any new planting. I have always found a frog and toad in this garden previously but have yet to see them this year. It is very unusually hot and dry for us though. There is always next year for the poor verbascum!
I have seen our toad about the last few days, he has been around for years,
this year we had a baby toad, but because Sam was very interested in it, I took him
down by the brook. We have a thrush that visits our garden every summer, I allways know when it is around, because I keep standing on empty snail shells. I love the wild life
too.
This is the first year that we haven’t yet seen frog or toad maybe because it is so hot and dry. We have seen lots of baby slow worms then as the year has progressed bigger and bigger ones. I love having them breeding in our garden.