A nice selection of Moths this morning and a bit of 'Vis Mig'.

Friday 18^th September 2026.

Dawn over Highland Road Cemetery.

A cloudy start to the day here in Southsea, though it was quite bright and with a light south-westerly wind, it felt quite cool today, especially on my first shift in Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth this morning. It was nearly ‘gloves’ weather!

The Moth Box was on overnight, and I was pleased to see the outside egg trays undisturbed this morning, though I was up at 4am and simply could not drop off to sleep again and so went downstairs to update my blog. It didn’t really get light till around 6.30am and so took photos of the Moths using my flash on my mobile phone!

My Moth Box:

It has been a good couple of months for Vestal moths including this one this morning.

Moth numbers are starting to decrease now as Autumn takes hold, but the variety can be interesting. There were no new species for the year list today but some nice Moths present that included a Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (I think I have only had a few this year), Vestal, up to 3 Plumed Fan-foot and my second Lunar Underwing of the year.

From top to bottom: Lunar Underwing, Plumed Fan-foot and Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing.

Again, micro moths were in short supply, with just three species this morning. A total of 43 moths of 15 species today. The Moths present this morning included the following:

 

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x4
Lesser Yellow Underwing x10	Chevron Grass-moth x1
Large Yellow Underwing x10	Tree-mallow Tortrix x2
Square-spot Rustic x2
Plumed Fan-foot x3
Double-striped Pug x1
L-album Wainscot x3
Turnip Moth x1
Vestal x1
Cabbage Moth x1
Clancy’s Rustic x2
Lunar Underwing x1

 

Overhead, up to two Grey Wagtails were heard and then seen calling, both heading south and a small number of Meadow Pipits also went over. While walking the dogs on their early morning walk, more ‘Mipits’ flew over as did another Grey Wagtail.

 

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

This Carnation Tortrix moth was fluttering about in Pembroke Road this morning and eventually landed on the road sign.

Up to 13 bird species were recorded this morning on my first shift within Pembroke Road and probably the pick of the bunch was a male Sparrowhawk flying low eastbound overhead and being chased by up to 10 Magpies! This happened as soon as I stepped out of the car. A good start to the day.

Other notable birds here was the calling Chiffchaff yet again; it was heard calling down the footpath adjacent to the Bowling Green but not seen this morning. The pair of Jays put in a brief appearance again this morning when they flew up to the Sycamore trees nearby and then headed off west.

 

 

Two Pectoral Sandpipers in Hampshire?

Thursday 17^th September 2026.

A grey start to the day that led to heavy rain during my first shift as I walked past Highland Road Cemetery early this morning with my dogs. A Chiffchaff was calling within the Cemy when I walked past.

A thoroughly wet and miserable morning today with a breezy south-westerly that brought in thick cloud overhead around 8am, with first drizzle and then persistent heavy rain up to around 10am. It did get brighter briefly, but more rain came in here in Southsea. This afternoon was completely different with bright sunshine and some high cloud.

The Moth Box was off last night as I didn’t want to take another chance with the inquisitive Fox coming into my garden and disturbing the egg trays etc or worse! My wife has ordered some Fox repellent of which I can spray around where I keep my Moth Box, which, I hope, will arrive very soon. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore Foxes, but when they potentially wreck my Moth Box and also leaving ‘scat’ in my garden; sorry, I will not tolerate that. Its bad enough with all these Cats in the area taking out the birdlife in the gardens and although I will not harm them in any way, there is only so much a keen Birder like me will take.

On a different footnote, the RSPB is now saying that there must be a ban of feeding birds in our gardens between May 1^st to October 31^st due to the fact that it ‘promotes the spread of diseases in garden including the parasite Trichomonosis which caused serious declines of both Greenfinch and Chaffinch across the UK’. I do know that ‘Cowplain Marsh’ has a steady supply of food for the birds and Andy’s garden is frequently receiving good numbers of birds. Consequently, I have contacted him regarding the RSPB’s message. I, personally, have stopped feeding the birds since the end of last winter this year, mostly due to the fact virtually nothing was actually feeding on the food I was putting out.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Thankfully, the rain and cloud had gone by late morning and bright sunshine replaced it this afternoon on my second shift. A carpet of Sycamore leaves lay on the road and pavement here. Common Wasps seem to be on the increase now here as one settled on my arm this afternoon. Gulp!

Despite the grim weather on my first shift this morning, I still notched up 10 bird species in all and that included a big flock of 25+ Swallows flying overhead, all heading west against the wind. A further two more were seen flying low over the Bowling Green and then heading towards the Curtain Moat.

Several Blue Tits were noted up in the trees opposite and my first Blackbird of the week was heard giving off its alarm call, but no sighting of the bird. Sadly, I have not seen or heard the House Sparrows from the Bowling Green hedgerow now for some time and only can assume they have dispersed north to the countryside? Out of interest, I wrote about a dead Carrion Crow on the Bowling Green and also that the groundsman upon this Green have not removed it. It turns out that it is a ‘stuffed’ bird and being used as a decoy to scare off other birds, including the Crows! Sorry, guys. It is not working, lol!!!

 

In Hampshire today:

This excellent photo of last week's juvenile Red-backed Shrike on Farlington Marshes. Photo by Pete Appleton.

Mark Francis kicked off the day nicely when he found a Grey Phalarope flying along the shoreline at Hill Head. This afternoon, Jason Crook found a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper at the Lake on Farlington Marshes and with one still at Pennington Marshes this morning; could this be two birds in Hampshire? Jason also found up to SIX species of Tern from the southern end of the Reserve out in the harbour that included a Roseate, Black, Arctic, Common, Sandwich and Little Tern! Incredible!

Late news from yesterday, while at Wake Lawn, Eastney, I spotted a Hummingbird Hawk-moth flying around one of the gardens. At one point, I thought it was about to settle on the fascia of a nearby house, but instead it sped away.

Seconds later, a Clouded Yellow butterfly flew past me and continued towards Milton Common. When it comes to nature, I simply never switch off!

A new album by the Funky Wardens due to be released before Xmas!

First Lunar Underwing for the year.

Wednesday 16^th September 2026.

A clear blue cloudless sky started the morning off and thoughts of a near empty Moth Box was on my mind, especially since the Fox was back at 4.30am this morning chasing the Moths by my Moth Box! It not only knocked over some of my outside egg trays but took a big crap right by the Box itself! Fume!

On a positive note, though not as many as yesterday, there was still a respectable number of Moths present and one that was new for the year.

Pembroke Road was active again with plenty of bird life around that included some notable birds.

 

My Moth Box:

My first Lunar Underwing moth for the year.

Among the 62 moths of 19 species, my first Lunar Underwing was found inside one of the egg trays within the Box and hopefully, the start of many more. This might signal the first Feathered Ranunculus to be not too far behind?

Above, a Least Carpet and below, the underside of the Yellow-barred Brindle moth.

Yesterday’s Mullein Wave was still present near the Box and other notable Moths this morning included a Least Carpet that was sat on the outside of the Box, 3 Golden Twin-spots, 2 Blair’s Mocha and 2 Clancy’s Rustics. Yesterday’s Yellow-barred Brindle was also present though this time sat on one of the kitchen windows.

Above, a Golden Twin-spot and a Blair's Mocha sharing the same egg tray. 

The most numerous species were the Lesser Yellow Underwings with 11 present today. Micro moths were scarce this morning with only Light Brown Apple Moths making up the numbers and surprisingly, no Olive-tree Pearls for the second day running.

 

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Lunar Underwing * x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x9
Mullein Wave x1	Common Plume x1
Buff Ermine x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x3
Large Yellow Underwing x5
Lesser Yellow Underwing x11
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x1
Square-spot Rustic x2
Pale Mottled Willow x1
Least Carpet x1
Blair’s Mocha x2
Golden Twin-spot x3
Yellow-barred Brindle x1
Willow Beauty x4
Double-striped Pug x7
L-album Wainscot x6
Clancy’s Rustic x2

 

Other news:

While checking the Moth Box, there was a bit of ‘Vis Mig’ going on overhead with singles of both Tree Pipit and Yellow Wagtail flying over but near impossible to pick them up in the clear blue sky. Also, two individual Meadow Pipits went over. In the garden itself, a Robin was heard ‘ticking’ in the gardens nearby and a Great Tit was up in the tall tree at the back of the garden.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Up to 13 bird species were recorded on my first shift in Pembroke Road this morning. This included a very vocal Chiffchaff that was seen a couple of times this morning. A small flock of 3 Meadow Pipits flew south over Governors Green and a single bird about 30 minutes later. The pair of Jays were back and put on a good show in front of me high up in the nearby trees and a total of 7 Magpies were counted flying over Governors Green and landing in trees within Penny Lane.

PINION-STREAKED SNOUT moth added to my Life List.

Tuesday 15th September 2026.

Dawn from my garden.

A cooler morning today with some cloud cover and hardly any wind whatsoever. When I was walking the dogs, there was a spectacular sunrise with the clouds painted fiery red; but numpty forgot to take his camera to record such a beautiful start to the morning. Doh!

On a positive side, there was a very good number of Moths present in and around my Moth Box early this morning as I made my way out to the garden around 6.25am (it’s getting later for enough sunlight to check the Moths!).

Back to Pembroke Road this morning and on my first shift and I managed to get into double figures again regarding the birds……just!

 

My Moth Box:

My first ever PINION-STREAKED SNOUT. This attractive small moth is now on my UK Moth Life List.

I was well pleased with a good Moth total of 95 individuals of 23 species, and this included my first ever PINION-STREAKED SNOUT that I found just inside the Moth Box. As I have never seen this species before in the flesh, I was really surprised on how small it was and more like a micro moth than a macro moth. Nevertheless, quite a smart looking little Moth and a welcome addition to my UK Moth Life List that currently stands at 743 species.

Above, this Mullein Wave was new for the year and below, two Vestal moths were recorded this morning.

A Mullein Wave perched on the fence panel behind my Moth Box was my first of the year and a good variety of migrant Moths to report as well. These included 2 Vestals, Golden Twin-spot, Pearly Underwing, Langmaid’s Yellow Underwing, Angle Shades and 3 Rusty-dot Pearls (Udea ferrugalis).

Some of the most numerous species this morning was (above) the L-album Wainscots and (below) the Large Yellow Underwings.

The ‘Underwings’ nearly took the title for the most moths this morning with 16 Lesser Yellows and 13 Large Yellow Underwings, but it was the L-album Wainscots that stole the show with a staggering 18 recorded. The following moths were counted this morning:

 

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
PINION-STREAKED SNOUT x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x3
Mullein Wave * x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x4
Lesser Yellow Underwing x16	Box Tree Moth x2
Large Yellow Underwing x13	Common Plume x1
Langmaid’s Yellow Underwing x1
Vestal x2
Golden Twin-spot x1
Pearly Underwing x1
Clancy’s Rustic x3
Square-spot Rustic x2
Willow Beauty x1
Double-striped Pug x8
Vine’s Rustic x1
L-album Wainscot x18
Blair’s Mocha x2
Buff Ermine x1
Pale Mottled Willow x4
Small Dusty Wave x5
Angle Shades x1

 

While checking the Moths, there was a small bit of bird passage overhead with a couple of single Meadow Pipits heading south as did a Yellow Wagtail. A Great Tit was making a lot of noise in the back of the garden but was easily shouted out by a couple of Magpies!

 

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

The cloud certainly rolled in this morning and at one stage I thought it was going to rain on my first shift today.  I managed to get up to 10 bird species this morning from my first shift here and that included sightings of both Grey Wagtail flying south high overhead and a Chiffchaff, which was quite possibly yesterday’s juvenile bird.

Apart from them, it was all the usual birds, but watching a group of Blue Tits chasing one another around the Holm Oaks was entertaining and lovely to hear the Robin singing away over the din of the passing traffic.

This afternoon was rather quiet again, however, one more species was added to the day list here and that was a lone Black-headed Gull that was seen flying high south. Sadly, no sign of any visible migration this afternoon, despite a heavy rain shower around midday here in Southsea. Thankfully, it was short-lived and a sunny bright afternoon took hold.

This evening, while walking the dogs, I flushed a Bloxworth Snout moth just outside my house and landed on my neighbour’s plant at the front of their house. My second Snout species for the day! I also found a Yellow-barred Brindle moth perched on the back window when I returned home from my second shift.

In Hampshire today:

This Osprey was seen and photographed at Fishlake Meadows today. Photo by Andy Tew.

The Pectoral Sandpiper was still present today on Butts Lagoon, Pennington Marshes. Nearby, Keyhaven lagoon held a Spoonbill, Spotted Redshank and a Little Stint. Titchfield Haven had a Wood Sandpiper on the South Scrape along with 8 Common Snipe, Common Sandpiper and a Glossy Ibis was seen flying over the Reserve. Two Water Rails were on show now some of the reedbed has been cut. A very early Redwing was seen over Butser Hill today.

One of the two Water Rails seen today at Titchfield Haven. Photo by Daz Gorman.

 

Several bird migrants at Pembroke Road today.

Monday 14^th September 2026.

While walking the dogs early this morning, walking past Highland Road Cemetery, I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling from the trees there.

Where did the weekend go? It was back to work this morning, kicking off the day at Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth. It was overcast throughout the day and though it looked a bit grim with the threat of an odd shower around, it was very mild with temperatures around 21 degrees. A very light south-westerly wind was coming in off the Solent and got a bit fresher as the day wore on.

I gave the Moth Box a miss last night to hope that all the Moths from Sunday morning had dispersed, but it will be back on tonight and hopefully, no Fox to hassle my Moths!

 

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Looking south over to the Bowling Green. A Chiffchaff was seen and heard in the trees there.

There was a good total of bird species recorded here from both shifts this morning with a final total of 14 species. It was good to see some migrants coming through with a small flock of 3 Swallows heading south-west and two individual Chiffchaffs seen and heard. The one seen in the afternoon had a slightly different call and I can only assume it was a juvenile bird. A Yellow Wagtail flew high over and for once, I actually saw the bird!

A Jay showed briefly flying into the nearby Sycamore trees and a large flock of Carrion Crows were seen flying low west over the road, with a count of at least 13 birds recorded. Governor’s Green held a Pied Wagtail that was searching the grass for any insects; a species I have not seen here this month. I believe that Visible Migration here really takes hold next month which I will be looking forward to, but for now, a trickle of migrants to break up the norm is certainly most welcome.

 

In Hampshire today:

Though there was no sign of the Grey Phalarope on Pennington Marshes today, the Pectoral Sandpiper was still present on Butts Lagoon along with a Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and a Bar-tailed Godwit. A Hobby was seen hawking overhead.

Congratulations to birding pal Emma Parkes for having this photo of two fighting Red-legged Partridges on Portsdown Hill being put on the Birdguides photos.

Birding pal Geoff Farwell was back down Farlington Marshes yesterday and judging by his sightings, he had a really good day on this superb reserve. His sightings included 2 Ospreys, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, 2 Cattle Egret, 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Avocet, Green Sandpiper, 15 Greenshank, 135+ Sandwich Tern, 50 Great Crested Grebe, Water Rail, 16 Sand Martin, 2 Wheatear, Whinchat, Kingfisher, White Wagtail, 8 Yellow Wagtails, 8 Cetti’s Warbler, 3 Common Whitethroat, 9 Blackcaps and 2 Chiffchaffs.