Hear Our Silence

There are over 2000 different moths in the British Isles: an astonishing wealth of diversity and beauty. We spotted the Garden Tiger moth this week sitting on our Virginia Creeper which is just beginning to turn into its autumnal scarlet livery. I was unaware of this amazing variety simply because moths are almost all nocturnal and so they are outshone by our handful of butterflies.

Their variety is only matched by their individual beauty. You think moths are drab and colourless? Not at all: they come in all shapes and colours (some to camouflage them during the day: another protection is to startle their prey with eyes or bright colours).

A secret world which has captivated some so that they happily spend a lifetime exploring their mysterious beauty.

http://ukmoths.org.uk/systematic.php

So you never quite made it all the way through. Wimbledon finals but not the ultimate prize. Bowing out gracefully to the man in the white blazer - another nice guy with everything going for him.

Just to say a thank you for all your tennis this season. Rest up and see you next year. And don’t drive that car too fast . . .

Just back from a week in a holiday cottage at Church Cove, two miles East of Lizard point. The Wheel House used to hold the winch that dragged the fishing boats up above the tide mark. It has spectacular views out to sea.

On day one, I spotted my first. A Basking Shark - all of 18 feet in length, its average weight around 8 tonnes. The second largest fish it lives on plankton. Its huge mouth is continually open, sucking in sufficient water in one hour to fill a fifty foot long swimming pool.

Mid-week, we counted 20 of these magnificent creatures, lazily trawling in the bay. Even the locals confessed that they had never seen so many off-shore. So our seas can’t be too badly polluted if these great fish still summer with us.