My fiance noticed a small Moth asleep on the inside of our front door and asked me to take a look. With the wings folded all I could do was look at the antennae and judge her to be female.
Eventually I decided to carefully cup her in my hands and take her out into the garden, as it’s very difficult to capture a Moth when it’s wide awake and fluttering all over the place, and I thought that it would be a lot less stressful for her if I did it now.
She stayed on my hand long enough to wake up a little and get her equilibrium back – and recover from any shock that I might accidentally have caused her. She then spread her wings and flew away, and I hope she found somewhere to go back to sleep in her natural habitat.
She was tiny; red wings with a very pale blue line going through them. I couldn’t get a photo of her but she was really pretty and I’m wondering if anyone could tell me what kind of Moth she was? I easily recognised the Death’s Head Moth we had sleeping in our bedroom a while ago but I don’t recognise this beauty!
I’m in the south-east of England in Essex if that’s any help.
EDIT: My Googlefu didn’t fail me for once! It turns out to be an Orange Swift.
Here’s a pic I grabbed off the net.
Pretty, yes? :)
