Forty-one moths and one very cross wren

The warm spell finally filled the trap. I opened the lid at five to find three lime hawk moths asleep on the egg boxes and a wren on the fence telling me exactly what she thought of the whole business.

Everything was counted, photographed on the same grey card and let go into the hedge before the sun reached it.

If the lamp is on, somebody is counting. If it is off, somebody is asleep.

What changed since April

Twice the species and three times the numbers, which is what a week of mild nights will do.

• First hawk moths of the year, eleven days earlier than last spring.
• No frost damage on the box lid this time.
• The red torch is still the best thing I own.

Keeping the tally

The counts live in one text file. Running tally --month may prints the table that goes into the field lists.