I had a very successful afternoon yesterday using the clearwing lures for the first time in the garden. I half heartedly hung my newly acquired 'VES' lure on a bamboo cane between two apple trees in the border at about 1pm, pretty much knowing that I wouldn't catch anything, and after 45 minutes of nothing I was ready to pack them away.
After unsuccessful sessions in Richmond Park and Denbies Hillside back in May, you can begin to imagine my surprise then when I went out to check the lure, and found an Orange-tailed Clearwing investigating the lure. This was the last thing I expected to find in the garden, being miles from any chalk, and may well be quite an interesting record. No sooner had I finished photographing it, an absolutely superb Yellow-legged Clearwing decided to join the party, soon followed by two more, rounding off a perfect afternoon.
The stars of the show...
Having a good old scratch behind the ear... err, I mean antennae...
Orange-tailed Clearwing in the hand... am I going too far?
Yellow-legged Clearwing...
A close up of that unique 'clear' wing...
Not quite as smart as the above Yellow-legged, but its still a clearwing, and any clearwing is a smart clearwing in my book!
Not a suitable activity for children below the age of 3...
Now for the hat-trick with Red-belted Clearwing in the next few weeks, or am I pushing my luck?
