Chiffchaffs dominate in a good variety within the Cemy.

Sunday 14th September 2025.

At last, Highland Road Cemetery suddenly awoke to migrant birds this morning. I took the dogs for a walk around 8am this morning and thankfully, the entrance gates were open nice and early. This morning's weather was good with a light southerly wind and an overcast sky, which was most helpful in picking out birds on the move high overhead. I spent a good 45 minutes here today because there was plenty to look at and to be honest, I was half expecting (or hoping) for something scarce, but despite plenty to look at, that real special bird did not materialise.

Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:

A gothic look at the Cemy.

There was a healthy number of migrants within the Cemetery today, though the majority of them were Chiffchaffs. Over in the south-west corner, I heard an unusual ‘Chiff’ call coming from the Conifer there and after waiting patiently for the bird to show, it was clearly a juvenile Chiffchaff (it got the blood pumping for a bit). However, I was starting to regret not bringing my binoculars, for there were a lot of small birds flitting around in the trees here, of which I counted at least 10 Chiffchaffs and a lot of both Blue and Great Tits among them. Even a Goldcrest got in on the act as it followed the main flow of birds into the trees. More Chiffchaffs were found throughout the Cemetery and so could easily be 20+ birds around.

Above, a Coal Tit on top of the Monkey Puzzle tree along with a Blue Tit, Both birds flew off south over the rooftops. Below, the red leaves of the Virginia Creeper really stand out on this Conifer over in the northern end of the Cemetery.

I can see you! This Chiffchaff was one of many here today. Below, because I didn't have my binoculars, I was relying on the zoom on my camera to identify this bird on the gravestone. It turned out to be a Robin.

Above, the Holly is now beginning to flower which should in turn attract many Bees, Hoverflies and Butterflies over the coming month. Below, the path leading south down the west side of the Cemetery. I didn't notice the bird flying in on the right and I think it might be a Jay after I zoomed in on the photo.

Above, Chestnuts littered along the footpath. When I was a kid, I would have been hoovering all these up for a good game of Conkers!

The Chiffchaffs were not the only warbler here as I heard the distinctive ‘chacking’ of a Blackcap coming from one of the Bushes. It or another one was heard again near the Mausoleum and I was lucky enough to see the bird fly out of a tall bush and into nearby vegetation. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker flew high over my head and headed off southbound over the houses and a Green Woodpecker was heard several times while I was walking round with the dogs, but I didn't get any sightings of the bird. Overhead, there was a bit of visible migration going on with Grey Wagtail, up to 7 Meadow Pipits and a Siskin going over and what was pleasing, a Coal Tit (a rare bird here) was first heard and then eventually seen perched high up on the Monkey Puzzle Tree at the southern end of the Cemy, with a Blue Tit. 

Above, a series of Chiffchaff photos taken this morning at various locations in the Cemy.

Above, a Blue Tit picking off seeds with the cones of a Blue Atlas Cedar tree. Below, a preening Wood Pigeon on one of the gravestones.

A Jay was heard and then seen flying over the Cemy while I was talking to an old gentleman walking his dog. He told me he had been coming here over the past 25 years, but also asked me where all the birds seemed to have disappeared. So we had a nice chat on what I have seen here over the years. I had recorded 20 species of birds here this morning, which wasn't a bad total, but the potential of something special here is always on the cards.  

Despite the heavy rain, a few nice birds were seen today.

Saturday 13th September 2025.

The rain here was torrential at times, but we did have a few bird sightings this morning at Gilkicker.

The weather played a major part today with long heavy showers and occasionally bright sunshine. Geoff, Andy and myself kicked off birding down at Gilkicker and then over to Hill Head, Titchfield Haven. We rounded off our day by the Canal Walk at Posbrook Floods. Andy got to grab another ‘year-tick’ for his Hampshire year list and early this morning, there were also two Moth Boxes to check.

My Moth Box:

One of two Canary-shouldered Thorns hung around from last night.

Despite some heavy rain overnight, there were 32 moths of 16 species present in and around the Moth Box. Luckily for me, it was dry and bright this morning and last night two Canary-shouldered Thorns were still present. Two Golden Twin-spots were present and my first White-point this week was on one of the egg trays within the Box. A late Langmaid’s Yellow Underwing was a surprise too, resting quite close to the main bulb. Nothing unusual among the micro moths, but a Box Tree Moth was perched on the white sheet.

Above, a White-point was present along with below, up to two Golden Twin-spot moths.

The Moths present this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Canary-shouldered Thorn x2	Box Tree Moth x1
Square-spot Rustic x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x4
Willow Beauty x1	Chevron Grass-moth x1
White-point x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x3
Large Yellow Underwing x4	Common Plume x4
Lesser Yellow Underwing x2
Langmaid’s Yellow Underwing x`
Golden Twin-spot x2
Garden Carpet x1
L-album Wainscot x2
Double-striped Pug x1

Andy’s Moth Box, Cowplain Marsh:

A lone Pale Mottled Willow was among the few moths present.

Surprisingly, there were only 19 moths of 9 species in and around Andy’s Moth Box this morning and to be honest, nothing out of the ordinary either. Most of the moths were on the egg trays that were outside the Moth Box and probably the pick of the moth would have been the Common Grass-moth. True, they are common, but not in Andy’s garden. The Moth Box also attracted TWO Hornets of which I carefully placed distantly in his garden.

One of two Hornets carefully taken away back into Andy's garden.

The Moths present here this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Pale Mottled Willow x1	Common Grass-moth x1
Lesser Yellow Underwing x4	Common Plume x1
Large Yellow Underwing x5
L-album Wainscot x3
Square-spot Rustic x1
Willow Beauty x1
Small Dusty Wave x1

Gilkicker Point, Gosport:

An adult Cormorant passing the shoreline between heavy showers.

I knew it was going to be a bit of a gamble to do a seawatch at this site, but what with the recent strong winds, very heavy showers and also the fact that Selsey Bill this morning had 100+ Balearic Shearwaters and a Long-tailed Skua through, the signs were looking good that something really good just might pass through. Well, if it did, we never damn well saw it! A possible Puffin was seen flying down Southampton Water from the Weston Shore. Could we find it this morning in the Solent? Two chances: none and fat!

An adult Med Gull gave us a brief bit of excitement as it flew over the beach and then back out into the Solent. Below, at least this Spitfire flying over the Solent entertained us now and then!

The weather was the key factor here with very heavy rain showers coming in from the south-west and although the shelter was a bit helpful to keep us dry, the rain still managed to get us wet; and it wasn't that warm either as I donned my woolly hat and gloves for the first time this Autumn!

Above, one of a pair of Ravens flew past and then flew out into the Solent. Below, very heavy rain was on and off all morning at Gilkicker.

Enough about the awful weather, there were very few bird sightings during our three hours we spent there. The pick of a very small bunch was a drake Common Scoter flying east, of which Geoff failed to see it! Two distant Sandwich Terns were fishing to the west close to the shoreline and a single Mediterranean Gull was seen to fly out to sea and two single Oystercatchers were noted. Swallows were actually flying north over the Solent and headed off inland, the largest number of which were 6 birds seen coming in as a single flock. Finally, a pair of Ravens flew west high overhead until disappearing over towards the Isle of Wight. Sadly, that was about it here. Gilkicker can be hit or miss and today, it was bordering on the ‘miss’! So by 12 noon, we decided to go to Titchfield Haven where, hopefully, we could get Andy onto his first Curlew Sandpiper for the year.

Hill Head, Titchfield Haven:

The Turnstones here always show very well by the roadside within the small harbour.

We parked up on Cliff Road and walked down to the Viewing Platform to have our lunch and keep an eye out for anything interesting. The walk there produced a large number of Turnstones with the small harbour, all resting on the mudflats along with a few Redshank. On the opposite side, upon the shingle beach, there were a mixture of both Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls preening in the sunshine and thankfully, no sign of any rain! From the Bridge looking towards the River Meon, a Little Grebe was swimming close to the reedbed and a Great Crested Grebe was swimming on the river itself along with a drake Gadwall.

Above, a Little Grebe was diving around by the Bridge by the main road and below, a good gathering of Turnstones within the small harbour. 

Above, the small harbour by the main road. Below, a preening Turnstone.

From the Viewing Platform, we could see at least two Common Sandpipers searching along the edge of the reedbed along with a few Redshanks, while Mediterranean Gulls were flying onto the reserve among the Black-headed Gulls while we tucked into our lunch and upon the small island, several Cormorants, Lapwing and a Starling were seen. I could see a stretch of water over on the South Scrape and while watching the large number of Oystercatchers and three Avocets on one of the islands, through the scope, I picked out a lone Curlew Sandpiper feeding in the shallow water. I quickly called Andy over and he was soon jumping for joy after watching his first Curlew Sandpiper of the year. So, not only did Andy get his ‘year-tick’, we saved ourselves the entrance fee of £6.50 each to spend our savings for a slap up binge in Mrs Miggins Pieshop!

While watching the Turnstones, a Brown Rat popped out from the wall below us and looked as though it wanted to take one of the birds, but they were too quick for it. Below, both Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls resting on the shingle opposite.

Above, there were a few Redshank in the small harbour and below, a Cormorant, Starling, Lapwing and a Black-headed Gull were at rest on the small island in front of the Viewing Platform.

Other sightings here included a Common Buzzard flying south over the reserve and a Chiffchaff that flew out of the nearby brambles. Our next stop was to be the northern end of Titchfield Haven.

The Canal Path, Titchfield Haven:

This Whinchat was out in the fields while we were walking south down the Canal Path.

It was a pleasant walk down the Canal Path where the sun beat down and it was pleasantly warm. Along the way, we had sightings of a Whinchat on one of the brambles, but there was nothing at all on the Bridge Street Floods and even Posbrook Floods was disappointing due to it being totally overgrown with plants and so viewing any birds on the water there was impossible from the Canal Path. A few Yellow Wagtails flew over while we sat on the Bridge and both Sand Martins and Swallows were hawking insects over the fields. Also from the Bridge, we could hear a young Common Buzzard calling and walking over to the gate overlooking the fields, I watched two birds tumbling in the air together and then one chased the other on the far side before disappearing to the south.

Above, a Nursery Spider basking in the sunshine along the Canal Path and below, this male Common Darter kindly sat long enough for a photo.

Above and below, these Common Buzzards were tumbling in the sky over the fields before flying off south.

Above, a Common Buzzard keeping a watchful eye on potential prey in the tall grass and below, Geoff pointed out this Marsh Woundwort plant along the path.

As expected, while the sun was out and warming up the reserve from this morning's downpour, the insects were abundant with both Migrant Hawkers and Common Darter dragonflies hunting along the Canal Path. Butterflies were flying around which included a Large White, many Speckled Woods, a couple of Comma’s and a Red Admiral. OK, we did not see many scarce birds today, but the pleasure of being out there in all this variety of nature was so enjoyable nonetheless. When you get opportunities like this, despite the weather, make the most of them, for you never know whats around the corner. No, I'm not getting morbid, I am just thinking of that Red-backed Shrike that could be on that bramble nearby!

In Hampshire today:

This Red-throated Diver was still in summer plumage in the northern end of Langstone Harbour today. Photo by Andy Friend.

Though we never went in the Hides at Titchfield Haven, in front of the Meonshore Hide today were up to 5 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Ruff and a Common Sandpiper and over on Farlington Marshes, a staggering 18 Curlew Sandpipers, a Little Stint and the long staying, but elusive, Wood Sandpiper. A Red-throated Diver, still in summer plumage, was in Langstone Harbour today, just off Broadmarsh and a Grey Phalarope was at Keyhaven Marshes. Two Ospreys were still in Portsmouth Harbour on Peewit Island.

Golden Twin-spot moths have returned in numbers.

Friday 12th September 2025.

One of four Golden Twin-spots this morning.

There was no rain overnight and so a bright sunny start to the morning though a breezy south-westerly was blowing over the south coast. Temperatures were relatively mild again (about 16 degrees centigrade) and what seemed at first a moth free morning actually turned out to be a bit more productive than originally thought.

My Moth Box:

Flounced Rustic.

The Golden Twin-spots moths were back with a vengeance with four found in and around the Moth Box, but though I am very pleased to get these rare moths, where are all the Silver Y’s? I normally get double figures of this species around this time of year! A Flounced Rustic was the next notable moth species, while there was the usual selection of Autumn moths that were mostly on the egg trays within the Box. A total of 25 moths of 12 species were recorded this morning.

This strange little insect is in fact a Itoplectis masculator. It was on my rainguard upon my Moth Box this morning. It is a species of parasitoid wasp. 

More showers are predicted today and even thunderstorms tonight! Lets hope it brings the birds in for this weekend.

The Moths recorded this morning were as follows:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Golden Twin-spot x4	Light Brown Apple Moth x2
Lesser Yellow Underwing x3	Rusty-dot Pearl x3
Large Yellow Underwing x3	Common Plume x3
L-album Wainscot x2	Beautiful Plume x1
Double-striped Pug x1	Ruddy Streak x1
Flounced Rustic x1	Box Tree Moth x1