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I saw this yesterday on the outside of our kitchen window and set my camera up with the flash bracket for some shots.

From in the kitchen, showing the underside:



and from outside-you can see some of the moth's 'tiles' have come off onto the window pane lower left:

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When identifying moths you must start by knowing that colour is much less important than the shape & position of the patterns on the wing. The different shapes and relative intensities of light & dark areas is likely to be stable but the actual colour and brightness of patterns often varies between individuals of the same species.

I'd recommend you get hold of a copy of the concise version of the "Field Guide to Moths of Great Britain & Ireland" by Waring, Townsend & Lewington :)

It's hard to judge the size of the moth in these photos ... I think in Facebook you mentioned that it was about an inch across, which made me think it might be a Common Marbled Carpet but looking harder at the books it looks much more like the smaller Juniper Carpet, which is also a late season moth. So, I am a bit confused - needs an expert to look at it and you might find it easier on a site like iSpot :)

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Thanks Chris , I could use that book! I used to have a Collins Gem guide to moths, it was brill but I lost it!

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Any of the Collins Guides will not be comprehensive - so if you are serious about finding the correct name you need to start with books that have all the species in them (like the Waring, Townsend & Lewington book) ;)

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Yea but I've just seen the price of that book!! Way out of my league!! Even on ebay, way too much!

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Amazon has the Concise version (easier to use, ring-bound and with less descriptive text) for £11.60 with free delivery ... not bad for a comprehensive book with paintings of all the UK species :)

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UKMoths is pretty good: http://ukmoths.or....
So is HantsMoths: http://www.hantsm....

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A Juniper Carpet (Thera juniperata)

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Thanks, that does look a positive ID to me!