www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Lee Hurrell wrote:Just out of Interest Captain Catkin, where was the meadow?

Sorry if you have said and I missed it...

Cheers

Lee

NickB wrote:"Look, catkins, Captain Catkin, catkins...
just look into my lovely catkins, that's right...
you are feeling so sleepy, my Captain, sleepy...
that's right, just lie down, down ...
in that beautiful butterfly meadow...
surounded by hundreds of catkins, my Captain,
catkins ..."

Mars and the full Moon pair up to provide a grand celestial spectacle on Friday night.

The Red Planet, now 62 million miles from Earth, will be at its brightest this year as it lines up opposite the Sun.

At around 9pm, Mars will be above and to the left of the Moon, about the length of an outstretched fist away.

A standard SLR camera fitted with a telephoto lens is all you need to capture the scene, says Robin Scagell, from the Society for Popular Astronomy.

"Mars is looking really quite red and impressive at the moment, and the Moon will be full, he said. "It's going to be a great sight and rather fun to look for.

"A telescope has too close a field of view, but with a 100mm telephoto lens you'd just about get them both in the picture, and you'll be able to see details on the Moon."

A pair of binoculars and a clear out-of-town sky will reveal an added bonus - the "beehive" star cluster - between the two objects, said Mr Scagell.

Mars is at its most spectacular when close to the Earth at opposition.

In 2003 the planet was just 35 million miles away as it faced the Sun, and more than four times brighter than it will be tomorrow night.

Torbay Flyer wrote:I was once looking for Glowworms alongside the Shropshire Union Canal at Beeston in Cheshire (just after midnight)when I saw what looked like a large moth settle on a flower, a check with a flashlight revealed to be a Red Admiral and it was feeding! It was a very warm night. Back in July 1983 I was walking alongside a goods train at Warrington Yard in Cheshire at about 0100 hours when I saw what looked like a white butterfly fly past and settle on a ragwort, this turned out to be the pale form of the female Clouded Yellow.

Dirty stop outs. Didn't Dave McCormick catch a Painted Lady in his moth trap last year too?

Lee Hurrell wrote:I'm counting the days.....can't wait! I reckon early March for Commas and Peacocks going by last year.

Did you get your shots of Mars and the Moon Dave? I saw Mars looking red last night and it was a lovely clear night in London, very cold though.

Cheers

Lee