Herald (of spring)

During a work party at the nature reserve this morning I saw something flutter out of a wood pile and disappear into a thick hawthorn bush. Some careful searching revealed this splendid Herald, a moth that overwinters as an adult, in buildings or caves, to emerge looking fresh from March onwards. The foodplants for its larvae are willows, aspen and other poplars, which are plentiful in the area where I found it. The cradling hands are care of Linda, one of my volunteers.