200+ Moths & the one that got away on the hottest day of the year.

Tuesday 23rd June 2026.

This GREY MOTTLED TORTRIX was a 'Lifer' for me.

It was staggeringly hot today as my car temperature gauge said 37 degrees centigrade (nearly 100 degrees fahrenheit!!!) and seriously, while checking the Moths this morning at 5am, I was actually sweating just standing there! It was an uncomfortable night with a lot of waking up during the early hours due to the humid conditions. Eventually, I gave up and so got up around 4.45am to get dressed and make a coffee before the huge challenge set before me! I will say, that was one seriously superb array of Moths I had this morning and it could have been a lot better!

I still did my morning shift at Pembroke Road and though in shorts and polo shirt, I was thankfully in the shade and a fairly nice light breeze sailed down the road to make it bearable. I was in for a nice surprise there too with a bird I did not expect to see.

My Moth Box:

My first Thorn of the year. An August Thorn.

I thought yesterday’s Moth total was something else, but this morning simply blew that away! An unbelievable 200+ Moths of 55 species were recorded this morning and it took me the best part of 90 minutes to go through them. I also had a ‘Lifer’ in the form of the micro moth, MOTTLED GREY TORTRIX (Gypsonoma oppressana) and probably over shadowing that was my second ever The Druid moth! Sadly, though I recognised it almost immediately, I went to take a photo of the Moth that was sitting on one of my outside egg trays, but when I was about to take the photo, it flew off and never to be seen again! AAAAAAAGGHH! It seriously would have been the ‘Cherry on the Cake’ should it have stayed. The only other Druid I have seen was in the late, great John Langmaid’s house when he trapped one. Hopefully, it is still around in the garden somewhere.

Above, a Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and below, a V-Pug. Both new for the year.

An incredible SEVEN more ‘year-ticks were present in my garden and that included the macro Moths: V-Pug, Haworth’s Pug, August Thorn and Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and the micro Moths: Pearl Grass-moth (Catoptria pinella), Rosy Tabby (Endotricha flammealis) and the Mint Moth (Pyrausta aurata). Yesterday, there were 34 Riband Waves present, but even this morning, that number was eclipsed by an enormous 47 of this species! Up to 20 Blushed Knot-horns were recorded!

Four more Moths that were also new for the year. From top to bottom: Mint Moth, Haworth's Pug, Pearl Grass-moth and Rosy Tabby.

Other excellent Moths recorded this morning included an Elephant Hawk-moth that flew out of the Moth Box as soon as I took off the lid and disappeared into the garden. Clancy’s Rustic, Mottled Rustic, Grey Dagger, Golden Twin-spot, Light Emerald, Brown-tail, Dun-bar, Least Carpet and my first White-banded Grass-moth (Crambus pescuella) for the garden this year was among these amazing Moths. The following Moths were recorded this morning:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
The Druid * x1	Bird-cherry Ermine x6
Riband Wave x 47	Pearl Grass-moth * x1
Dark Arches x4	Mother of Pearl x2
Bright-line Brown-eye x1	Large Pale Masoner x2
V-Pug * x1	Barred Marble x1
Clancy’s Rustic x1	Golden-brown Tubic x3
Willow Beauty x3	Box Tree Moth x1
Treble Brown Spot x1	Common Plume x5
Heart  & Dart x5	Blushed Knot-horn x20
Mottled Rustic x1	Common Masoner x1
Common Emerald x2	Garden Grass-veneer x5
Double-striped Pug x5	Rusty-dot Pearl x1
Grey Dagger agg. x1	Ruddy Streak x5
White Ermine x7	Garden Grey x9
Elephant Hawk-moth x1	MOTTLED GREY TORTRIX  * x1
Uncertain x1	Brown House Moth x1
Marbled Beauty x2	Bee Moth x5
Golden Twin-spot x1	Rufous Pearl x2
August Thorn * x1	Bud Moth x3
Lacky x4	Light Brown Apple Moth x4
Garden Carpet x1	White-banded Grass-moth x1
Haworth’s Pug * x1	Rosy Tabby * x1
Lime-speck Pug x7	Mint Moth * x1
Light Emerald x1
Brown-tail x2
Dun-bar x2
Least Carpet x2
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing * x1
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x1
Large Yellow Underwing x1
L-album Wainscot x2

With so many Moths present, I wasnt surprised to see a lot of other insects present this morning within my Moth Box and these included a Marmalade Hoverfly, Lagira hirta Beetle, Deraeocoris flavilinea bug (Miridae), 2 Strawberry Seed Beetles , 6 Lacewing and a Harlequin Ladybird.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

It was already very warm at the start of my shift in Pembroke Road.

Though only a measly total of 12 bird species were seen this morning, easily the highlight in Pembroke Road on my 1st and only shift today here was a singing Common Whitethroat! I first heard the bird singing just south of the Bowling Green, probably in the scrub that had only just recently been strimmed and then it was singing in the back garden of the Bungalow opposite before returning back by the main footpath where I had seen the Hairstreak butterflies earlier this week! Only the second time ever I have heard one here and a damn good record for the place.

Yet again, there were good numbers of Swifts overhead, but apart from the usual three species of Gull flying over, it was pretty quiet here. There were plenty of butterflies on the wing again and making the most of this most unusual heat wave with up to 4 Painted Ladies seen and two Small Whites. A Meadow Brown was taking interest in a Lavender plant just inside Pembroke Close.

It only got hotter as the day wore on and around 2pm today, as mentioned, the temperatures zoomed up to 37 degrees centigrade according to my car and when I stepped out of the car, the heat just whacked you! Phew! And tomorrow is supposed to get hotter too!!!!!!

In Hampshire today:

A Squacco Heron, here with a couple of Canada Geese, was an amazing find on Sturt Pond. Photo by Simon King.

A stunning Squacco Heron was found at Sturt Pond, near New Milton, on Monday and only now that photos have come to light of the bird and was seen very early this morning by one lucky birder. A Wood Sandpiper and a Little Ringed Plover was at Farlington Marshes this morning; the reserve is having a good run of interesting waders over the past week with Curlew Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank seen recently.

The highest Moth total for the year so far.

 Tuesday 23rd June 2026.

My first Brown-tail moth for the year.

It is creeping up to the mid-80 degrees fahrenheit today though there is a good south-easterly breeze blowing over Southsea this morning. It was quite sticky overnight and thankfully, we never got the huge thunderstorm that the likes of London and Kent got overnight. Phew! I shall be watering the garden again tonight, making sure all those plants we bought earlier this year are well hydrated.

Above, the Marbled Beauty was another new moth for the year and below, my second Clouded Silver for the year.

The warm overnight temperature produced my highest total of Moths for the year this morning and as expected, some excellent Moths among them. At least nearly 30% of the Moths were Riband Waves! My first and only shift at Pembroke Road this morning produced a reasonable total of bird species and there were a few butterflies on the wing too.

My Moth Box:

Only my second ever Mottled Rustic moth and a first for my garden.

Easily my highest total of Moths for the year so far with a staggering 114 Moths of 45 species of which 34 of these were Riband Waves! I do know they sometimes explode in numbers, but I cannot recall getting this many in one morning and probably a few more dotted around the garden too!

Above, the Barred Yellowneck micro moth and below, the Copper-fringed Drab. Both were new for the year.

Among the many Moths, a superb Brown-tail moth was perched on the Box and my first Marbled Beauty was present, also on the side of the Box. Micro moth new for the year included a Barred Yellowneck (Oegoconia deauratella) and a Copper-fringed Drab (Swammerdamia pyrella); both regular moths in the summer here and other most notable Moths included a Clouded Silver (second one for the year after seeing one in Devon last month), only my second ever Mottled Rustic (again, after the one in Devon), my third Clay of the year. Two Coleophora micro moths species which would need dissecting to ascertain their ID. Only my second ever Small Fruit Moth (Aspila lobarzewskii) was also present, sitting on top of the Box after one earlier this month. The Moths recorded this morning were as follows:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Brown-tail * x1	Box Tree Moth x2
Clouded Silver x1	Dark Moss-moth x1
White Ermine x4	Diamondback Moth x1
Willow Beauty x3	Grey Knot-horn x2
Clancy’s Rustic x1	Common Masoner x1
Mottled Rustic x1	Coleophora species x2
Clay x1	Blushed Knot-horn x4
Common Emerald x2	Barred Yellowneck * x1
Heart & Dart x3	Garden Grass-veneer x3
Dark Arches x5	Bird-cherry Ermine x1
Large Yellow Underwing x4	Bud Moth x2
L-album Wainscot x2	Elderberry Pearl x1
Marbled Beauty * x1	Hawthorn Moth x1
Bloxworth Snout x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x3
Riband Wave x34	Gold Triangle x1
Lackey x1	Common Plume x1
Double-striped Pug x6	Garden Mompha x1
Lime-speck Pug x1	Bee Moth x1
Marbled Minor agg. x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x1
Bright-line Brown-eye x1	Brown House Moth x1
	Ruddy Streak x2
	Golden-brown Tubic x1
	Small Fruit Moth x1
	Copper-fringed Drab * x1

At least 10 Lacewing were inside the Moth Box along with one Harlequin Ladybird and two Hoverflies, the Many-tufted Boxer (Playcheirus scutatus) and a Common Globetail (Sphaerophoria scripta).

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

A breezy bright start to the day at Pembroke Road.

After yesterday's White-letted Hairstreak sightings, I decided to just stay put where I work in Pembroke Road and observe the butterflies passing through within the blustery conditions between 8 and 9am this morning. This involved a Red Admiral and a single Painted Lady passing through and one smaller butterfly which had me puzzled, but it was seen distantly from me and could quite possibly be a Small Heath?

Up to 13 bird species were seen this morning and that included a Jay that put in a brief appearance within the Holm Oak trees. The Swifts were abundant this morning. It is so good to see them back here in Old Portsmouth after a long wait for them to show and now we have this heatwave, I am sure they are going to be here all week. A lot of the species were all the usual birds, but nothing really unusual today. I have been keeping an eye out for that White-tailed Eagle after one of the fellow ‘Lazee Birders’ had one flying over Southsea last Sunday!