Buff Tip Moths

Serendipity describes the phenomenon in which you make a lucky and unexpected finding when you’re looking for something else, or not looking for it at all. I had enjoyed a brilliant morning in the Avalon Hide at RSPB Ham Wall and I thought that was me done for the day when things just dropped out of the sky in front of me. I stopped and looked around and was aware of more things dropping around me. It took a while for my eyes to pick out several stunning caterpillars, over 2 inches long, making their way from the track into the undergrowth.

This sparked my curiosity and I looked up. Again it took awhile for my eyes to see them, but in a tree munching away at its leaves were several more yellow and black caterpillars.

I was thrilled to find out that these were Buff Tip Moth caterpillars. A few days later one visited my garden, lucky me.