First moth of 2015

Much in the same way that Steve Gale runs a competition for the first person to see a Wheatear every spring, I too run my own wildlife-inspired competition early in the year. However, instead of congratulating people finding Wheatears, my competition celebrates the first moth to be flying in the harsh conditions of early-January, and the hardship and determination that comes with survival at this time of year.

Granted there are a few flaws in the idea; obviously there is no way of awarding a moth with an actual trophy, which means that the competition usually just ends in me buying myself a congratulatory Creme Egg and eating it in alone in the street whilst harbouring a mixture of powerful emotions including (but not limited to) smugness, self-guilt, embarrassment and confusion.

Anyway, the 2015 'trophy' goes to this Dotted Border which was attracted to the lit kitchen window yesterday night! Whoop!

Funnily enough, Dotted Border won the competition last year, and I took a really interesting investigative look into its unusual life-cycle in this blog post... here.