Today a real chance to be original and creative. At the weekend I trapped a spectacular moth; fantastic colours. This is the day flying Emperor moth and, whilst it is relatively common, is rarely seen and often mistaken for a fast flying butterfly. You would be very lucky to just stumble across one. The females emit chemicals that the male picks up on their large antennae and then fly to her to mate. I have a pheromone that replicates these chemicals. I put it in the garden and on Sunday it attracted 2 males. One I netted and managed a few photos of before releasing it unharmed.
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| Antennae for picking up the female pheromones |
How about, to begin with try to replicate one of these photos in paint, crayon or felt tip pens. Then, perhaps draw an owl or a cat and add the eye spots to the creatures face? The eye spots on the moth are to scare off predators. It flaps and flicks its wings thereby giving the impression of a large face staring back at the predator. Seeing it is a successful, common moth, this system must work well.
How about print a copy of the photo and cut out the eyes to stick on to another drawing.? The results can be impressive.
I am looking for ideas to add to future Bishop's Stortford Independent articles so if you have tried any of the previous activities, please do get a photo, preferably over 2Mb and send it to me for possible inclusion in my regular fortnightly column. Be really pleased to see your results.
Yesterday, I managed a few photos of red kites over our garden. A couple of examples here.
Enjoy what looks like being another fine day and keep checking the garden for butterflies. Already had a peacock in our garden before 9.30am!
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| Red Kite, Little Hadham |
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| Another one of the 6 red kites seen altogether. |
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