Another new micro moth for the year.

 Thursday 11th June 2026.

It was clear and bright when I made my way to my back garden to check on the Moth Box, but by 9am, it had clouded over and the rain arrived. It was cold again on my first shift at Pembroke Road and yet again, with a breezy westerly throughout my time there this morning. I was meeting my mate Gary for a coffee straight afterwards and thankfully, I was told it was going to be much brighter and sunnier in the afternoon.

My Moth Box:

A new micro moth climbed onboard my year list, the Small Fruit Moth.

Once again, much lower numbers of Moths are present in my garden this morning compared to Monday’s large haul. The weather must have played its part as it was not only clear last night, but cold too. On a positive side, among the 26 moths of 13 species, there was another new moth for the year list; the micro moth Small Fruit Moth (Grapholita lobarzewskii) with a fancy Polish latin name?! This particular species is fairly uncommon in this part of southern England, but this species has turned up in my Moth Box before.

The two different Bloxworth Snout's this morning.

Among the macro moths, the two Bloxworth Snouts were the pick of the bunch here this morning, though, as you can see by the photos, they came in two different guises. The most numerous Moths were the Heart & Darts with six present.

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Willow Beauty x4	Common Plume x1
White Ermine x4	Ruddy Streak x1
Vine’s Rustic x2	Narrow-winged Grey x1
Heart & Dart x6	Small Fruit Moth * x1
L-album Wainscot x1
Garden Carpet x1
Marbled Minor agg. x1
Yellow-barred Brindle x1
Bloxworth Snout x2

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

The first shift in Pembroke Road only produced 11 bird species this morning and among all the usual species, a Cormorant flying over Governor’s Green and then onto Portsmouth Harbour, was the best of the low species count. More to follow (hopefully!).

More unsettled weather here in the south.

Wednesday 10th June 2026.

The dark clouds rolled in this afternoon on my second shift in Pembroke Road. Then the heavy rain came!

Three days in a row now! Sunshine in the morning and then heavy showers in the afternoon yet again. Not only that, that cold westerly wind in the morning is starting to make me think, have we had our Summer?! Seriously, what on earth is happening to our weather? It’s June for F*** sake!

I did not put the Moth Box on overnight due to the fact I wanted a bit of a lay in and also it was going to be a clear dry night, but it will be on tonight. It was busy in Pembroke Road again with the traffic, but I still got a reasonable bird species total, the highest this week so far. Some excitement in Hampshire yesterday late afternoon when a fellow ‘Lazee Birder’ posted a photo of a (second summer?) Bonaparte’s Gull off Sandy Point, Hayling Island; but it seems it was only seen by the finder, though there was a good photo of the bird. Despite a few ‘Lazee’s’ trying to find the bird, there was no further sign, but a large Gull congregation off Sandy Point held Gannet, Fulmar and a Kittiwake among the Gulls.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

I was surprised we never had any thunder and lightning as it got quite dark when the clouds rolled in this afternoon.

I picked up a total of 15 bird species from my two shifts today here at Pembroke Road and this time nearly all the usual species were either seen or heard today. Sadly, no House Sparrows were calling from the Bowling Green hedgerows, which was probably due to the Groundsman working on the Green. Though when they stopped, it didn't take long for the pair of Pied Wagtails to start chasing insects on the short turf.

Bird of the day had to go to the Jays and though they were showing well at times and quite vocal too in the two roadside Sycamore trees, I don't think the local breeding Blue Tits took too kindly with them here. The Blue Tits were giving off their alarm calls all the time the Jays were present. There has been no more activity this week with the nesting Wrens and so I can only conclude that the nest has been deserted or the chicks have fledged. I suspect the former.

Above, after one in my Moth Box recently, I found this Green Immigrant Leaf Beetle crawling on the bushes by where I  stand. Below, the colourful stand of Field Poppies on the opposite side of the road.

A few Buff-tailed Bumblebees were flying around the roadside gardens and on the opposite side of Pembroke Road, where the alleyway is located, a couple of Red-tailed Bumblebees were seen nectaring on the purple flowering Hebe plants. There was a good cluster of Field Poppies by the entrance of the alleyway. I always check the vegetation where I stand and I found my second Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil of the year, running around on the leaves of the bushes.  

In Hampshire today:

Two pale phased Arctic Skua's past Sandy Point late this afternoon. Photo by Andy Friend.

There was no further sign of the Bonaparte’s Gull today, though a pair of Arctic Skua’s flew past east at Sandy Point late afternoon. Sadly, little else to report, though I heard a singing Common Whitethroat off Kingsley Road, near Milton Common around midday.

Above and below, Razorbills.

Above and below, Puffins.

Above, Guillemot and below, a 'Bridled' Guillemot.

Above and below, Gannets.

Above, Matt & Emma Parkes took a trip to Bempton Cliffs RSPB last Sunday. These were just a few of the photos that Emma Parkes took.

Lower numbers, but four more Moths to my year list.

 Tuesday 9th June 2026.

Another day of two halves where there was a deluge of rain at the end of my first shift in Pembroke Road (Grrrrr!) and blazing sunshine in the afternoon shift! It was a repeat of yesterday and with a cool, blustery westerly wind; I cannot say that I really enjoyed the weather today.  The Moth Box was on again overnight, but the numbers were much lower than yesterday, but still produced a few Moths that were new for the year.

It's the last week of Spring Watch and watching it comfortably in the afternoon on the BBC iPlayer is always a bonus and it has been very good yet again. I mean, Honey Buzzard on the nest; incredible stuff. Bempton Cliffs is one of the locations this week and what an impressive place. My friends, Matt & Emma Parkes spent a good day there over the weekend; a place I have only been to once. It wasn't for the seabirds though as there was a Taiga Flycatcher there for about 5 days, but I actually ‘dipped’ on it! I left at 3am in the morning and went up to the site with a fellow birder Steve Hall, convinced we were going to see the bird (this all happened in my ‘twitcher’ days), but despite spending a long time at the site it was last seen, there was a no show!

My Moth Box:

My first Lackey moth of the year.

Four more Moths were added to my year list this morning and after seeing a couple of Lackey moth caterpillars on Sunday morning, low and behold, the adult moth turns up in my garden this morning! The other three moths were all ‘micro' moths' that included a Barred Marble (Celypha striana), Golden-brown Tubic (Crassa unitella) and the Birch Tortrix (Epinotia immundana); all annual moths to my garden.

This Barred Marble is a regular micro moth for my garden.

Numbers of Moths dropped considerably this morning compared to yesterday with just 32 moths of 19 species, but still a good variety. The only migrants were a Silver Y and a Rusty-dot Pearl, but I am sure more are to come especially when the weather gets warmer over the weekend this week. The Moths present this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Garden Carpet x1	Barred Marble * x1
White Ermine x6	Golden-brown Tubic * x1
Silver Y x1	Birch Tortrix * x1
Pale Mottled Willow x4	Ruddy Streak x1
Lackey * x1	Garden Mompha x1
Heart & Dart x3	Rusty-dot Pearl x1
L-album Wainscot x1	White-shouldered House Moth x1
Vine’s Rustic x2	Garden Grass-veneerx1
Marbled Minor agg. x1
Bright-line Brown-eye x2
Double-striped Pug x1

Two more micro moths new for the year included a Golden-brown Tubic (above) and this Birch Tortrix (below); the latter moth being quite scarce to my garden.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

After getting a good soaking on this mornings first shift in Pembroke Road, it was far more pleasant in the afternoon.

Just 11 species seen or heard this morning during both shifts today here, but what a contrast in weather between this morning and this afternoon. I could only notch up 10 species this morning and a Black-headed Gull was heard and eventually seen this morning to boost today's total to 11! Yes, numbers were low, but watching the Blue Tits going back and forth to their nest site and Blackbirds chasing one another while working, surely cannot be all that bad! The pair of Pied Wagtails were again on the Bowling Green this morning and a male bird was seen searching the field east of the Bowling Green while I was sitting in my car this afternoon under the Holm Oaks.

Another Moth 'Lifer' among my highest total for the year.

 Monday 8th June 2026.

My first ever Brown Oak Tortrix was in the garden this morning.

A day of two halves where this morning, clouds had rolled in again and several hours of rain fell during the middle of the day. However, the clouds parted company in the afternoon and bright sunshine befell sunny Southsea once more. Huzzah! A light westerly blew across Pembroke Road with temperatures hovering around the 18 degree centigrade mark.

Three of the seven Dark Arches moths seen this morning.

The Moth Box was on again overnight, despite a few showers, a very large haul of Moths to look through and yet more moths that were new for the year. Pembroke Road was fairly quiet again regarding the birds, but the very active Blue Tits and a pair of Blackbirds kept me entertained.

My Moth Box:

My first Clancy's Rustic for the year.

The highest total of the year for Moths took place in my garden this morning with an incredible 83 moths of 35 species. True, Moth totals can get up to three times as many in the late summer months here in my garden; but I was well pleased with this total and not only that; a new Moth for my Moth Life List and five more for the year list!

Above, a Large Yellow Underwing and a Pale Mottled Willow were abundant this morning.

The new Moth in question was a BROWN OAK TORTRIX, which is a localised Moth that favours Oak, Lime, Ash, Sallow and Elm trees. I honestly thought it was a Variegated Golden Tortrix at first, but I did get curious and so checked on Obsidentify and low and behold, it was the BROWN OAK TORTRIX! 

The Twin-barred Knot-horn that was also new for the year.

Moths that were new for the year included an early Clancy’s Rustic (normally an Autumn species here in my garden), 2 Lesser Yellow Underwings and a cracking Heart & Club. My first Varied Coronet for the garden this year was in one of the outside egg trays, which incidentally were nearly full of Moths, as was the Box itself! Another Golden Twin-spot was on the white sheet and a large total of 11 Heart  & Darts were counted!

One of two Lesser Yellow Underwings today.

The ‘micro’s’ were also in very good numbers today with the likes of Twin-barred Knot-horn, Common Masoner and, of course, the BROWN OAK TORTRIX added to the year list. The Moths present this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Garden Carpet x1	White-shouldered House Moth x1
White Ermine x4	Twin-barred Knot-horn * x1
Large Yellow Underwing x7	Common Masoner * x1
Lesser Yellow Underwing * x2	Garden Grass-veneer x1
Willow Beauty x2	Box Tree Moth x2
Varied Coronet x1	Garden Pebble x1
Bright-line Brown-eye x2	Ruddy Streak x1
Vine’s Rustic x3	Rusty-dot Pearl x2
Pale Mottled Willow x8	Apple Leaf Miner x3
Clancy’s Rustic * x1	Brown House Moth x1
Shuttle-shaped Dart x2	Blushed Knot-horn x2
Dark Arches x7	BROWN OAK TORTRIX * x1
Heart & Dart x11	Light Brown Apple Moth x1
Heart & Club * x1	Large Pale Masoner x1
Golden Twin-spot x1
Cabbage Moth x1
L-album Wainscot x2
Marbled Minor agg x2
Green Pug x2
Yellow-barred Brindle x1
Riband Wave x2

Other insects attracted to the Moth Box included one Lacewing, 2 Cinnamon Sedge Caddisflies, a Marmalade Hoverfly and another Candy-striped Spider.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

I recorded just 12 bird species today at Pembroke Road and to be honest, all the usual species although some omissions today with no Wren, Magpie or Med Gulls seen! No Swifts either; but on that subject, they really have gone down in numbers around Portsmouth and Southsea, with very few seen of late. Maybe not enough food supply perhaps and have wandered off elsewhere?

Above, a Buff-tailed Bumblebee in the roadside bushes and below, the Migrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae). 

The Blue Tit pair were busy going back and forth to their nest site and only the one Pied Wagtail on the Bowling Green this morning.