A hawk-moth and a mossy path

What a difference! After two very warm evenings, the temperature is much more temperate. This is a very short walk, down the other lane at Shirlett and out to Hawthorn Bank. There are hazel nuts in the hedge, and whatever is that? We saw it in flight first, looking like nothing else we’d seen. When it landed on some sycamore leaves, it was obvious – a large moth, none other than a hummingbird hawk-moth. We don’t see those every day! On the way back, we’ll follow the footpath through the wood. It’s not marked at either end, but oddly enough, in the middle of the wood where the path is obvious, there’s a waymarker. The woodland may be coniferous, but the trees are well-spaced, and the floor is a carpet of moss. It’s all somewhat other-worldly. If the path has a fault, it’s length – lack of it, to be precise. Paths like this need be be several miles long!