What a morning - woke up in need of some encouragement for the day and striaght out to look at the moth trap- and wow- over 40 moths but the piece de resistance for me- two privet hawkmoths. The first I have ever seen and they have blown me away. I have to confess I used to be scared of moths so having a trap has been a very positive experience and I have really started to appreciate the huge number of different moths, their sizes and colours and am keen to learn more. And seeing them so close up and then reading about them is just a great way to get to know them. I have a good number to set to and identify from last evening and wont get that done today but the hawkmoth stood out and could not be resisted. How many photos can you take of a moth? (Question from David who was eventually roped in to be the display stand). Fab! And for my record its called sphinx ligustri - is common and this one was 53 mm long. 