Colotois pennaria or The Feathered Thorn Moth

I was having a coffee and the camera was on the table beside me. He was in no hurry to move away so I suppose he was slowing up because of the cold. I just wish my grandchildren had been there but I will send them the photos.

scotsgran do you have a lot of interest in moths and insects in general?? why i ask is because you really took the time and trouble to identify the moth as male...i never thought to do that until i joined GoY and saw a comment from a member asking another member weather the butterfly was male or female??

nice detailed image too :-)))....

from Jane!

ps:- your grandchildren will enjoy you photos..

Fantastic photos Scotsgran. He looks almost human (and even more so than some real humans !)

Jane as a child I spent a lot of time being ill so I was encouraged to take an interest in books and that led to my fascination with moths and butterflies. My family would find something new and bring it home for me to pickle in White spirit. My brother who is six years older than me made trays on which I could display them. My favourite beastie was a wood wasp. It is very big and bores holes in trees. I left all that behind me a long time ago but I still feel tempted to share what I know and of course the internet is a great source of information. This link is a good place to start if you want to id a moth. This one is quite common in UK. http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=1923
Hywel I really felt in spite of his grotesque appearance (something out of Dr Who maybe) he was quite endearing.

thank you for sharing where your interest started..its nice you have that knowledge you can share with grandchildren.. i feel i missed out big time not having the same encouragement in childhood (but of course iam sorry you were ill) knowledge is so worth having and when shared really very much appreciated...you made the blog very captivating...thank you...and yes i will use the link...thank you again...Jane.

Brilliant photos Scotsgran - can't think how you managed it with him sitting on your finger!

Thank you Jane. Just remember you only stop learning when you are dead and you will have plenty of time to learn lots yet. I was a lucky child. With some difficulty Steragram but he seemed to be in charge. Its a wonder he did not ask for an appearance fee lol. My son gave me this camera because he thought my photos were rubbish. It is very easy to use.

absolutely brill blog SG. I also found enjoyment [and still do] in the natural world around us. I wasn't allowed to pickle things mum was too squeamish but I was encouraged to make nature notes. Not artistic but accurate. I now take photos and like you the digital camera has made it so much easier.

keep up the good work ;o)

Thank you Sbg. I don't think it would be PC to pickle and pin anything to a board nowadays. No need anyway now we live in the age of digital cameras. No waiting a week to get prints back and instant knowledge of the quality is a great boon. If old age is your second childhood I hope it lasts a long time. I am having great fun.

Although I' d have had a blue fit if he'd actually landed on me I can still appreciate your very clear photo's and the info you've provided, keep enjoying your camera and sharing your pics and knowledge Kath.....

He may look quite big here but he is really only about 3cm wide and long. It was a natural reaction for me to persuade him to climb on my finger and then I was totally mesmerised by him.

Beautiful closeups, Scotsgran, and very interesting blog. I never even thought of identifying the sex of moths/butterflies! I'm all for enjoying a second childhood, too, and like you, I am loving it :)

Thank you Gee. We are counting our blessings at this time of our lives.

Great blog, Sg. We get these little ginger, furry moths here. And now I know they're boys!
You're so right about digital cameras. It costs nothing to keep clicking...and, sometimes you get something special in your photos, which you didn't even know was there.

Thank you Karen. Only the ones with feathery antenna are male. I wish opticians could prescribe glasses which could give such marvellous detail. I really must read my camera manual. I tried to put the flash on and it said cannot use flash in burst mode. Whatever that is. did you see any nice butterflies or moths in Paradise.

I know what you mean, Sg. There were lots of beautiful butterflies in Paradise, mostly quite large. There were beautiful birds too, three different types of king-fishers (one was really tiny with iridescent violet wings) - but I wasn't able to capture any of them. I got a new camera for the trip, but, it only had the basic lens kit, which wouldn't get up close enough. It was quite frustrating...so, guess what Santa's bringing me this year?

I was toying with the idea of buying a digital slr camera and going on a course to learn how to use it properly. My son gave me the Lumix DMC-TZ8 and advised against spending hundreds of pounds on something I would rarely use. He bought his wife a top of the range DSLR with lots of lens because she was going on a photography course. He offered the use of it for me to do a course as she never uses it. She prefers this model. No faffing around with changing lenses etc. She is an artist and enjoys taking lots of photographs which will inspire her to create something. Knowing me he thinks I am like her and I would waste my money buying anything else. I find it more than adequate but I don't think I could take photos of butterfies a distance away from the lens. Do your research unless you already know a huge amount about what you expect to get from it.

I think you're right. I bought an expensive one just before digital SLRs became affordable (relatively!) but find usually use it on the preset programme rather than setting aperture and f no. manually as used to do with the old SLR I had before.

To do that Stera I would have to read the manual, lol, I never have the patience these days to absorb details. They go in one eye and out the other. I have more chance of retaining what I have learned if I am shown how to do it and then practise to retain it. Apertures and f nos. are a bit like computer speak to me. Now the little slide to get closer or further away is about my limit. I spoke to the tutor at RBGE and said I did not feel justified in buying a DSLR which was what was required to do the course this year but I notice the courses for 2014 only talk about digital cameras. I might sign up for one after all.

I've got my Lumix in my bag all the time, Sg. They're great little cameras. Then I got an Olympus with a 36X zoom and it's great at taking things from a distance...as long as they don't move.

I wanted something something quicker, so I looked at these new compact DSLR hybrids...but, you have to change the lenses on them too.

So, I got a display model of the newest Nikon, at a good price. I dk how to work it, manually, either, though. I'd love to do a photography course. Luckily, it's got loads of automatic settings.

It is a good skill to have but you already take good photos. You may find somewhere local to you or you could sign up for a residential course. My dil did that somewhere in the Cotswolds. I honestly could not justify buying a new camera, but I will enjoy seeing what you do with yours.