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! 

White-letter Hairstreaks off Pembroke Road!

Monday 22nd June 2026

Only my third ever White-letter Hairstreak. Seen off Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth this morning.

Though I never went to bed at near midnight last night, due to a damn good series on Netflix, I was still up at around 5am to check on the Moth Box once again (am I mad?) and even at this ungodly hour, it was quite warm. By midday, my car said it was 31 degrees centigrade and Tuesday and Wednesday are reported to get much hotter! Gulp! I was also back to work in Pembroke Road this morning, but last night, I was told by my employers that because of the heatwave, we will not have to do a second shift throughout the week!

My Moth Box:

This Crescent Plume is a good record for my garden although they are becoming annual now.

Yet again, once I switch off the light from the Moth Box, several Moths simply up and leave before I have the chance to ID them. Most frustrating! However, there were plenty here again to go through as I recorded 77 moths of 35 species today, which included both Rufous Pearl (Udea fulvalis) and a Crescent Plume (Marasmarcha lunaeadactyla), both new for the year and the latter, starting to become annual to my garden.

Above, a Heart & Club and below, the micro moth Twenty-plume Moth.

Another good number of Moths to go through and nice to get another Heart & Club within the Box, which is a species that is irregular to my garden. My second Twenty-plume Moth for the year was within one of the egg trays and both Grey Knot-horn and Hawthorn Moth were most welcome this morning as micro species were nearly as abundant as the macro species. The Moths recorded this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Riband Wave x14	Golden-brown Tubic x1
Treble Brown Spot x1	Twenty-plume Moth x1
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x1	Crescent Plume * x1
Lacky x1	Common Plume x1
Marbled Minor agg, x1	Box Tree Moth x1
Willow Beauty x1	Blushed Knot-horn x3
Garden Carpet x2	Rusty-dot Pearl x4
Common Emerald x5	Rufous Pearl * x2
Dun-bar x1	Hawthorn Moth x1
White Ermine x3	Bee Moth x2
Common Pug x2	Brown House Moth x1
Double-striped Pug x2	Large Pale Masoner x2
Heart & Club x1	Garden Grass-veneer x5
Dark Arches x3	Grey Knot-horn x1
Pale Mottled Willow x2	Diamondback Moth x1
L-album Wainscot x1	Beautiful Plume x1
Heart & Dart x2	Bud Moth x2
Bright-line Brown-eye x1

The insects attracted to my Moth Box overnight included a Broad Centurian, which is a species of Soldier Fly and quite striking too. Two Marmalade Hoverflies were also present plus one Lacewing.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Another photo of the White-letter Hairstreak butterfly.

After last Friday’s discovery of Purple Hairstreaks along the alleyway between the Bowling Green and the Bungalow, I decided to get to Pembroke Road a little earlier than usual and knowing full well that the sun will be shining, I took my camera along with me this time to photograph the Purple Hairstreaks. However, I was in for a surprise as I focused on one of the Butterflies and realised the underwing was brown instead of grey and realised I was looking at White-letter Hairstreaks instead!

In fact, two were present at least, but only the first individual showed very well in the strong sunshine, sitting out in the open on a leaf, fairly high up, but my excellent camera picked it up nicely and I managed to get some decent shots of this sought after species. I have only ever seen this species twice and that was a long time ago. I put a photo of the Hairstreak on the ‘Lazee Birders’ Whatsapp page, though just after a photo was put up on the same site of a Scarce Swallow-tail butterfly that was taken by Andy Tew in Romsey!!! Incredible stuff.

Back to the birds and a good total of 15 species were recorded this morning and that included a family flock of Coal Tits (very rare here), a Collared Dove, which is almost surprisingly as rare as the Coal Tits and a good count of around 10 Swifts. There were a few omissions this morning here, like the Black-headed Gull and Great Tit, but most of the usual species were present. 

The Holly Blue near where the Hairstreaks were.

Other Butterflies seen this morning here included a Holly Blue and a Large White by the Bowling Green and a Red Admiral was seen later in the day in Highland Road.  

Lower numbers of Moths this morning and a trip over to the Cemy.

 Sunday 21st June 2026

The sleepy Vixen in the Cemy this morning.

The heatwave has finally arrived and temperatures early this morning were on the rise. It was around 16 degrees centigrade when I crawled out of bed, bleary eyed, to check on the Moth Box. A House Sparrow has taken a liking for my Moths, I noticed, but I think the vast majority were still around the Moth Box when I started checking the outside egg trays. As soon as I turned off the light, several shot off into the garden and one large Moth looked very interesting. Bugger!

I took the dogs for a walk around Highland Road Cemetery this morning, as early as possible, due to the rising heat; but I think our Ted was struggling a bit with the heat; but there was plenty to see over there again. Plus, the dogs got to meet some friendly other dogs too. 

My Moth Box:

This Grey Knot-horn micro Moth was my first for the year.

There was a 41% drop in Moth numbers compared to yesterday, with just 50 moths of 26 species recorded this morning, though as mentioned, several flew out as soon as I turned off the light. There was only one moth that was new for the year, the micro moth Grey Knot-horn ( Acrobasis advenella), which is an annual Moth to my garden.

Above, a Dun-bar Moth was sharing an egg tray with a Large Yellow Underwing and below, a Nutmeg Moth.

Notable moths this morning included a Dun-bar, Nutmeg (possibly the same one as yesterday) and 2 Clancy’s Rustics. My second Bird-cherry Moth of the year was present in one of the egg trays. The Moths recorded this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
White Ermine x6	Large Pale Masoner x1
Willow Beauty x1	Brown House Moth x1
Dun-bar x1	Box Tree Moth x2
Large Yellow Underwing x1	Bird-cherry Ermine x1
Pale Mottled Willow x1	Grey Knot-horn * x1
Common Emerald x5	Codling Moth x1
Bright-line Brown-eye x1	Common Plume x1
Dark Arches 1	Blushed Knot-horn x1
Common Pug x1
Lackey x3
Lime-speck Pug x3
Uncertain x1
Riband Wave x9
Nutmeg x1
Green Pug x1
Heart & Dart x1
L-album Wainscot x2
Clancy’s Rustic x2

Insects attracted to my Moth Box overnight included a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, 2 Harlequin Ladybirds and a Lacewing. 

 

Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea: 

The Vixen eventually moved on after being disturbed by dog-walkers.

As per usual, all the expected birds were present and correct though not many to take a photo of! It was certainly getting warm at 9am within the Cemy as I stripped off my fleece and then slowly walked anticlockwise around my local patch. A young Starling was calling consistently within the large conifer within the south-west corner of the Cemy and its parent wasn't too far away, perched on a rooftop with a beak full of food.

Above, the adult Starling waiting for me to pass so it can feed its nearby youngster and below, a juvenile Blackbird being fed by its parent.

Above, a male Blackbird perched on a gravestone and below, I found a clump of Bittersweet Nightshade growing in the south-west corner.

A couple of Blackbirds were seen perched on the gravestones and a few family flocks of Blue Tits were seen flying over the site. Overhead, there was a good number of Swifts screaming across the blue sky, but there was virtually no wind whatsoever and some of the birds just skimmed the treetops in search of flying insects.

Above, this Blackbird was keeping a close watch on us as we walked past and below, one of the many Swifts screaming overhead.

There were many Butterflies on the wing today of which this Painted Lady (above) was one of them, but the Meadow Browns (below) were easily the most numerous species here in the Cemy today.

Butterflies were on the wing and that included a large number of Meadow Browns seen. Most were simply just a few centimeters above the grass, but it was difficult to actually find one stationary (though I did eventually). A Painted Lady butterfly was seen perched on the grass and a few Large Whites were on the wing. A Fox vixen was sitting in the sunshine by some bushes near the Mausoleum, but moved on when some dog-walkers passed by; though she did look a bit sleepy in the sunshine, with her eyes closed. It's always good to see the Fox here. I am a passionate supporter of Foxes and I am hoping this disgusting act of Trail Hunting from dedicated Foxhunters will be fully banned at last from our ever so slow Government. We shall see.

Yesterday's Roseate Tern on Titchfield Haven was confronted by an Oystercatcher. Photo by Steve Laycock.