I saw what I am told is a rare moth yesterday (12th May 2011) on a hedge in our garden in Wivenhoe. Unfortunately I don't have a camera at the moment, but I found a photo of it by doing a Google search for "moth with very long antennae" It led me to:-
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/archive/showphoto.php/photo/93497/size/big
I am not a moth expert, but my brother Tony Mainwood is. He is the branch secretary of the Highland butterfly conservation group, based at Golspie in Sutherland, and he tells me "It doesn't have a common name but is one of the Longhorn moths - Nematopogon swammerdamella."
He also gave me the link to this Essex Field Club site where I discover that the last siting for this moth nearest to Wivenhoe was in 1996! So I thought I should report it. It's annoying that I can't give any other evidence of it, but it was definitely the moth that is in that photo. Hard to mistake it. Roger Mainwood, Wivenhoe, Essex
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The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more
The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more