More new Moths for the year & a heatwave on the way.

 Tuesday 16th June 2026.

It was another bright start to the morning and to be honest, most of the day although clouds rolled in on my second shift at Pembroke Road this afternoon. However, the temperatures started to climb as it hit around 20 degrees centigrade, though it was much warmer further north of the UK. There was a pleasant south westerly blowing down Pembroke Road this afternoon and even a bit of sunshine broke through. Yet another reasonable haul of Moths this morning, with a fair few ‘year-ticks’ this morning. Last night, I let the dogs out in the garden and one of the Pipistrelle Bats was flying up and down the garden.

My Moth Box:

I found this cracking Least Carpet while walking the dogs this morning.

The overcast conditions and mild temperatures helped my Moth total this morning to be much more respectable with 48 moths of 31 species recorded this morning. Another six more Moths were added to my year list this morning that included Dark Spectacle, Dun-bar, Lime-speck Pug, Small Ranunculus, Single-dotted Wave and Least Carpet. The only new micro moth for the year was a Bird-cherry Ermine. All these moths mentioned are annual to my garden, but some are scarcer than others.

Above, my first Dun-bar moth of the year and below, another first for the year, a Dark Spectacle moth.

The most numerous Moths were the Dark Arches with an incredible 11 recorded although there could be more around the garden hiding among the vegetation. Two Golden Twin-spots were present (rare moths to most people’s gardens) and the near lookalike, Silver Y was also near the Moth Box. The Bird-cherry Ermine moth was probably the first of many to arrive soon and if we are to get this heatwave over the weekend, I expect the Moth numbers to get into the three figure counts.

More new moths for the year included this Small Ranunculus (above) and Single-dotted Wave (below).

Above, a Bird-cherry Ermine and below, one of two Golden Twin-spot moths.

It was when I was walking my dogs early this morning, that I found a Least Carpet moth perched on the glass side of the Bus Stop opposite Highland Road Cemetery. The Moths recorded this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Silver Y x1	Garden Grass-veneer x3
Common Emerald x3	Red-barred Tortrix x1
Dark Spectacle * x1	Box Tree Moth x1
Dark Arches x11	Gold Triangle x1
Heart & Dart x1	Large Pale Masoner x1
Pale Mottled Willow x3	Garden Mompha x1
Riband Wave x5	Blushed Knot-horn x1
L-album Wainscot x4	Brown House Moth x1
Golden Twin-spot x2	Common Plume x1
White Ermine x3	Bird-cherry Ermine * x1
Setaceous Hebrew Character x1
Vine’s Rustic x1
Dun-bar * x1
Lime-speck Pug * x1
Small Ranunculus * x1
Lesser Yellow Underwing x1
Large Yellow Underwing x1
Lackey x1
Small Dusty Wave x1
Single-dotted Wave * x1
Least Carpet * x1

The only other insect within the Moth Box was the Hoverfly, Migrant Aphideater (Eupeodes corollae). While checking the Moth Box, I heard a noise on my neighbours shed roof and thought it was just another Cat, it was actually a dog Fox that simply stood there and stared at me. I don't know who was more surprised, the Fox or me! I only just managed a quick photo using my Mobile Phone camera before it headed off over the wall and out of sight.

A Fox surprised me this morning within my neighbours garden.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

The sunny conditions in the afternoon were replaced by some heavy clouds. There was even a brief shower late in the day.

From both shifts within Pembroke Road, there were a total of 13 bird species recorded today. The Swifts were present again, with sightings both this morning and this afternoon. With all the usual common birds seen, including the Pied Wagtail, it was pretty much the same as yesterday. Just the one butterfly seen here today, a Large White, which flew over the Bowling Green early this morning. 

In Hampshire today:

This Tree Pipit was seen at Broxhead Common where there was a healthy number of Silver-studded Blue butterflies on the wing. Photo by Andy Friend.

The adult Curlew Sandpiper was still on Farlington Marshes, though seen in the Stream area early this morning. There were two Osprey sightings today; one over Blashford Lakes and another over Fareham. I have yet to see one this year, but I am hoping for one this Autumn.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth in the back garden.

 Monday 15th June 2026.

The Hummingbird Hawk-moth that showed very well at the back of my garden.

At last, a lovely Monday morning with bright sunshine with temperatures around 20 degrees. There is talk of another heatwave on its way towards the end of the week, but we can expect the odd shower this week like we did this morning, just after taking the dogs for a walk. After last week's grim weather, I was talking to the guys about the lack of Swifts over Southsea, but they seemed to come back all of a sudden. While walking the dogs this morning, I did notice several birds going into nestholes further up my road, though none using the nestboxes I had put up. Apart from two of the boxes being used by my house, I am a little disappointed that none of the others are being used. Fussy buggers!

I didn't have the Moth Box on overnight as I fancied an actual lay in (getting up at 4.45am most mornings eventually takes its toll on you!), but I was rewarded today with a superb Hummingbird Hawk-moth on the flowering Buddleia at lunch time while I sat outside with my lunch and my scrounging dogs! On the negative side, the windy conditions this morning blew my Moth Box over and smashed some of the rainguard of which I have temporarily mended (Good old Gorilla tape!)

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

My view from the Office window!

As mentioned, it was much more pleasant on my first shift here in Pembroke Road this morning. A good count of 14 bird species were recorded here this morning and that included at least four Swifts! They obviously went somewhere warm with plenty of aerial insects (Greece, Southern Spain perhaps?) and eventually returned to good old Pompey!

A Four-spotted Ladybird on one of the Bushes.

Three species of Gull were seen again: Herring, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls, but, to be honest, it was all the usual birds that were seen. The Blue Tit family seemed to have fledged (I heard the youngsters last Friday within the nearby trees), but no sight or sound of them today, though I did hear both Blue and Great Tit calling. A lot of calling juvenile Starlings were heard behind the Bowling Green that involved at least 8 birds as far as I could see.

Above, another photo of the Hummingbird Hawk-moth seen around midday. Below, my stand of Buddleia growing at the back of my garden. I am really pleased that it has grown back to its former glory. 

The warm weather certainly brought out the butterflies with Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Large White and Small White were all seen well, but I was really chuffed to see a large Dragonfly flying low over the road. Judging by the size and shape of it and the way it flew, I can only assume it was one of the Hawkers and most likely a Southern Hawker; but the Dragonfly would not settle and soon flew off towards the Holm Oaks.

Above and bottom, a Red Admiral enjoyed my Buddleia late this afternoon.

After my second shift, the sun was shining still and also pleasantly warm and so I quickly checked out the flowering Buddleia at the back of my garden. No sign of the midday Hummingbird Hawk-moth, but a Red Admiral was nectaring on one of the Buddleia flower heads and several Holly Blue’s fluttered around the back of the garden also.

In Hampshire today:

The only bird of note today was a Curlew Sandpiper in full summer plumage at the back of the lake on Farlington Marshes.

A real masterpiece. Keep an eye out for the tour!

Another early start for the Moths.

 Sunday 14th June 2026.

My first Plumed Fan-foot Moth of the year.

The nice weather carried on into today and I was up and at the garden at bang on 5am this morning. It seems the ‘body clock’ will not shut down for when those first rays of light come beaming through the crack in the curtain, I simply have to get up. A cup of coffee later and I am counting and recording another morning's worth of lovely Moths!

After chatting to my mates about the lack of Swifts over the house and in fact, Southsea in general, I was amazed to see a flock of 9 birds screaming low over my house yesterday evening and there were plenty more Swifts around early this morning, circling high over the house and calling to one another. Obviously, the week's poor weather had them searching for food many miles away and probably only coming back here to service their partners at their nesting sites.

My Moth Box:

Such an attractive Moth, the Gold Triangle.

This morning produced the second highest total of Moths for the week with a total of 59 moths of 35 species. There were good numbers of both macro and micro Moths of which there were four more species that were new for the year. This included the rare Plumed Fan-foot (a species that only recently have become annual to my garden) and the micro moths Marbled Orchard Tortrix (Hedya nubiferana), Gold Triangle (Hypsopygia costalis) and Common Masoner (Blastobasis adustella).

Above, my second Broad-barred White was a pleasant surprise this morning. Below, my first Marbled Orchard Tortrix.

Other notable Moths this morning included my second Lychnis of the year; a Clancy’s Rustic (second for the year) and my second, but first for the garden this year, a Broad-barred White. A Small Magpie Moth was my first for the garden, but my second for the year after seeing one at Cowplain Marsh. 

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Plumed Fan-foot * x1	Beautiful Plume x1
Large Yellow Underwing x3	Light Brown Apple Moth x1
Willow Beauty x2	Garden Grass-veneer x1
White Ermine x3	Marbled Orchard Tortrix * x1
Pale Mottled Willow x4	Common Plume x1
Lychnis x1	Blushed Knot-horn x2
Heart & Dart x3	Large Pale Masoner x3
Riband Wave x6	Small Magpie Moth x1
Clancy’s Rustic x1	Ash-bark Knot-horn x1
L-album Wainscot x1	Pale-backed Detritus Moth x1
Dark Arches x4	Ruddy Streak x3
Double-striped Pug x1	Garden Mompha x1
Broad-barred White x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x1
Common Emerald x1	Barred Marble x2
Garden Carpet x1	Gold Triangle * x1
Green Pug x1	Common Masoner * x1
Lackey x1	Bramble-shoot Moth x1
	Box Tree Moth x1

Other insects attracted to the Moth Box included a Lacewing, a Common Banded Hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii) and another Hoverfly species, a Migrant aphideater (Eupeodes corollae).

Turtle Dove & Barn Owl added to Hampshire List.

Saturday 13th June 2026.

The gorgeous Barn Owl at Warblington this afternoon.

I knew today was going to be a lot warmer and sunnier thanks to our wonderful weather forecasters and for a nice change, they were right. In fact, it actually got into the mid-70’s and plenty of sunshine, virtually t-shirt weather no less. Though we saw Geoff Farwell briefly this morning at Cowplain Marsh (Andy’s garden) after he had just come back from doing an early Bird Survey in the Cosham area (Geoff had a Cuckoo flying over) ; Andy and I, after checking his Moth Box, took our annual trip to the village of nearby Charlton for Turtle Doves.

Afterwards, a trip to Pook Lane in Warblington to view the Barn Owl to add this species to my Hampshire List for the year. On both trips, we were joined by at least 7 ‘Lazee Birders’, who were great company and a good laugh too. The Moth Boxes produced a reasonable number of Moths and a good number of ‘year-ticks’ too.

My Moth Box:

My first Ash-bark Knot-horn moth of the year.

It was clear overnight and quite cool too and at 5.20am this morning, I was outside in the garden with a hot coffee checking the garden and the Box for the Moths. In total, there were 31 moths of 21 species present of which, the only new Moth for the year was a micro moth, Ash-bark Knot-horn (Euzophera pinguis). There was nothing out of the ordinary with the macro Moths present, though my second Lackey of the year was noteworthy. The ‘micro’s’ present included a Garden Mompha and two Barred Marbles; both fairly common throughout the summer.

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
L-album Wainscot x1	Large Pale Masoner x1
Heart & Dart x2	Apple Leaf Miner x1
Willow Beauty x2	Garden Mompha 1
Vine’s Rustic x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x2
Dark Arches x2	Brown House Moth x1
Lackey x1	Barred Marble x2
Double-striped Pug x1	Blushed Knot-horn x1
White Ermine x2	Ash-bark Knot-horn * x1
Large Yellow Underwing x1	Garden Grass-veneer x2
Bright-line Brown-eye x1
Pale Mottled Willow x1
Riband Wave x3

The only other insect attracted to the Moth Box this morning was a Lacewing and a small insect called a Malthinus flaveolus, a species of Soldier Beetle.

Malthinus flaveolus.

Cowplain Marsh (Andy’s Garden):

Dwarf Cream Wave.

My Moth Box quality was mediocre compared to Andy’s garden where Geoff's MV Moth Box was used overnight. At first, it looked fairly quiet by the Moth Box, but when I saw my first Common Emerald Moth of the year perched on the wall, I knew we were in for a good morning here. A total of 25 Moths of 19 species were recorded here this morning and among these, I had 6 more Moths that were new for my year list.

Above, a Yellow Oak Tortrix and below, a White-banded Grass-moth.

Above, a Common Emerald and below, a Clay moth.

These included a Dwarf Cream Wave, Clay and Common Emerald and the micro moths, Yellow Oak Tortrix (Aleimma loeflingiana) and White-banded Grass-moth (Crambus pascuella). So, despite the cold conditions overnight, Andy’s garden comes up with some very nice Moths again and no doubt, will come up with some more over the coming months.

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Dwarf Cream Wave * x1	Variegated Golden Tortrix x1
Bright-line Brown-eye x1	Large Fruit-tree Tortrix x2
Heart & Dart x2	Dark Strawberry Tortrix x1
Dark Arches x1	Yellow Oak Tortrix * x1
Treble Brown Spot x2	White-banded Grass-moth * x1
Common White Wave * x1	Garden Grass-veneer x4
Riband Wave x1	Beautiful Plume x1
Blair’s Mocha x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x1
Vine’s Rustic x1
Clay * x1
Common Emerald * x1

While I was writing up the Moths seen this morning, I always kept an eye out for the birds going over his garden. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling within the trees opposite his house and some Mediterranean Gulls went over as did a Swift.

Charlton, Hampshire:

A Mistle Thrush seen from the Railway Bridge.

Andy and I spent a good half an hour at this site situated near the Railway Line searching for the Turtle Doves and the sign they were still present at this lovely site was that we both heard one ‘purr’. But that's as far as it went. No further sight or sound of the birds during our three hour stay here, though we were soon joined by another seven ‘Lazee Birders’ also after the Doves.

Above, a juvenile Starling searching for food along with the Horses and below, the singing Chiffchaff by the Railway Bridge.

Above, one of the several Swallows present by the Railway Bridge and below, this male Blackcap was also singing close by.

From the Railway Bridge, enjoying some of Andy’s flask Coffee and a Rocky chocky bar, we had sightings of both Blackcap and Chiffchaff singing close by and a few Swallows were seen perched on the nearby trees and flying around us. I had my scope with me and double-checked the distant telephone poles with both Collared Doves and Stock Doves perched on them (just in case!) A Mistle Thrush, with a beak full of worms, was searching a nearby field to the north of the bridge and overhead, both Red Kite and Common Buzzards soared in the bright sky.

Above, this early Small Skipper was a nice surprise and below, at least a dozen Marbled Whites were also present. Both species were my first this year.

After hearing a Turtle Dove ‘purring’ in the distance, we took a walk back down the road to the gulley below the Hill. Fellow ‘Lazee Birder’ Pete Gammage joined us to listen to the Doves, but that was the last we heard of them. However, a family flock of Marsh Tits flew past us, totalling around 4 birds and the likes of Blackcaps, Yellowhammer and a male Bullfinch were all seen during the 45 minutes we spent there.

Above and below, this male Firecrest was singing above our heads.

So, no further sign of the Turtle Dove; but the butterflies were good. Our first Meadow Browns, Marbled Whites and a Small Skipper were seen and also a very fast flying Dark Green Fritillary were seen plus Small Heaths and Common Blues were on the wing here. There was a Burnet Moth nectaring on a Birds-foot Trefoil flower, but as I got nearer, the insects completely disappeared. Hurrumph!

This Steam Train passed by while we were standing on the Bridge.

Pete went off to join the other ‘Lazee Birders’ and after around ten minutes, we also joined them for a good chat. Andy Friend suggested taking a footpath east from our location and up to a quarry he knew. It was all uphill but the climb wasn't too bad as we eventually got to the quarry. However, it was full of lorries and vans and really didn't look too inviting and so we headed back to the cars. On the way back, a male Firecrest was singing in the overhead canopy and showed very well for us. Once we reached the cars, we all agreed to go for the showy Barn Owl at Pook Lane, Warblington. I have not seen one in Hampshire and so off we went.

Pook Lane, Warblington:

The Barn Owl at Warblington checking out something above it within this Oak Tree.

Andy and myself were the first to arrive at Pook Lane, but despite a good search in the said tree where the bird was supposed to be, we simply could not locate the Barn Owl. However, it wasn't till we got to see the heart shaped hole in one of the trees, that Andy Tew suddenly said the Barn Owl was just left of the tree. Andy was rolling up a cigarette at the time near my car and so ushered him over to view the Barn Owl; my first one this year in Hampshire.

Above, the Barn Owl still showing relatively well and below, a female Kestrel was nearby.

I never got to photograph the Barn Owl at Chittlehampton, Devon, last month; but this bird posed nicely for us, though the sunlight bouncing off the bird's back made it clearly visible even from a distance. But still, any Barn Owl showing well during daytime hours is always a big bonus. 

Some of the 'Lazee Birders' enjoying the Barn Owl and below, Andy taking a break.

Other birds present included several Stock Doves present in the Oak Trees and a pair of Kestrels were in the area including a male bird that posed nicely in the dead branches of an Oak Tree. Two dazzling white  Mediterranean Gulls flew over during our time there and headed off east and east. It was tempting to go to look for Cattle Egrets at nearby Mill Pond by the Royal Oak pub, but I had other plans and sat in Cowplain Marsh enjoying a cup of coffee watching Damselflies. Our afternoon plans are sorted!

Cowplain Marsh (Andy’s garden):

I took this photo of the Large Red Damselfly by Andy's Pond and an Azure Damselfly (left) photobombed!

Enjoying a hot brew in the shaded area of Andy’s garden by the Pond was most enjoyable. Three species of Damselfly were showing well and that included Azure, Large Red and Blue-tailed Damselflies; although the latter was somewhat a bit more cagey in getting a reasonable photo. The other two species showed very well and both species also were seen laying eggs in his pond as well as perching fairly close to where I stood. A few Hoverflies were around the pond and the only ones I could see were the expected Marmalade Hoverfly and a much larger Common Banded Hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii).

Above, the Blue-tailed Damselfy and below, mating Azure Damselflies.

Above, mating Large Red Damselflies and below, a Common Banded Hoverfly.

There have been a few dragonflies seen by the Pond recently, but still nothing was showing for us today despite the warm sunshine. A good day’s birding with good company too.

The Funky Wardens new Album cover.