Clancy's Rustic moth the highlight this morning.

Saturday 25th September 2021.

The month is quickly drawing to a close but the moths keep on coming in my garden, thankfully, albeit mostly Box Tree Moths. However, I was in for a nice surprise when I discovered a superb Clancy’s Rustic moth (above) on one of the trays: a species that I have only ever seen once before all the time I have been into moths. A few Lunar Underwings and a scattering of other species maintained my interest as I got to work in recording the moths.

It was a grey overcast start to the morning and having a nice lay in, I was not surprised to find quite a few Box Tree Moths in and around the box. Overhead, a Meadow Pipit was the only bird of note flying over while checking the box. A rooftop Starling nearby gave a very good Tree Pipit impression and had me staring skywards. Photo above, some of the moths present in my box this morning.

I am hoping to go birding sometime today although my daughter is moving house and I said I would help her which should be sometime soon today. I have put Andy on alert that it probably will be sometimes this afternoon we shall go out and find another ‘year-tick’. There has been a juvenile Purple Heron near the village of Pagham seen again this morning but it is quite elusive and only shows flight views at present, but it is tempting to take a trip over there. Currently, there is ‘panic buying’ of petrol that is blighting the UK’s roads and here on the south coast is no exception. It was ridiculous yesterday and annoyingly, I do need to get fuel. Photo above, the two Lunar Underwings.

The moths seen this morning included the following species:

• 1 Clancy’s Rustic
• 1 Lime-speck Pug
• 2 Double-striped Pug
• 2 Willow Beauty
• 2 Lunar Underwing
• 1 Brimstone moth
• 2 Square-spot Rustic
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 2 L-album Wainscot
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing
• 1 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow
• 11 Box Tree Moths
• 1 Eudonia angustea
• 4 Common Plume

A beautiful morning in Apuldram.

Thursday 23rd September 2021.

The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Apuldram, near Chichester. There was plenty of wildlife within the Cemetery to keep me entertained while the Funeral service took place. 

There were no moths to look at first thing this morning as I gave the moth box a rest and a nice little sleep-in for me. Annoyingly, I had to pay another visit to Curry’s to rescue my Blog again and the nice young man, Roo, who spent a considerable amount of time on my Laptop, trying to unravel what Blogger is all about! I have to say, it is a bloody minefield at times and if it wasn’t for Roo, I think I could have given up. I came away happy that my Laptop was behaving again but £10 lighter due to the fact that my new Laptop does not take the SD card from my Camera and therefore I had to buy a bit of kit to install into the Computer to transfer the images!

On a positive note, I was working over a place called Apuldram, near Chichester, this morning and on such a beautifully warm morning, all went very well. Of course, I was keeping an eye out on the local nature in the Churchyard and came across a few interesting sightings. Both Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker were heard but not seen, as was a calling Buzzard, while all around, Common Darter dragonflies were abundant, landing quite close to sunbathe in the warm sunshine (see photo).

Speckled Wood butterflies were dancing over the graves along with a few Red Admirals, as I pointed out a Harlequin Ladybird to my work colleagues. They all know that I am into nature and sometimes have them spellbound while holding something interesting! I used to do some birding down this area which is quite close to Chichester Harbour where in the Winter, both Whimbrel and Little Stint used to overwinter, however, it is a favoured area for those Wildfowlers, which I detest. Other sightings today involved several Common Buzzards flying low over the A27 and also a few over the M275 and probably now the most common bird of prey in the UK. 

This male Bearded Tit was photographed by birding pal, Richard Tucker at Farlington Marshes yesterday. 

On Farlington Marshes today, a pair of Curlew Sandpipers were on the main Lake and the Glossy Ibis was still present at Nore Barn. A Great White Egret was present at Posbrook Floods, near Titchfield and another on Blashford Lakes today as well. Birding pal, Geoff Farwell texted me to say he had a Canary-shouldered Thorn by his moth trap last night along with a Box Tree Moth, Willow Beauty and a Square-spot Rustic as even his moth numbers have diminished.

My third ever Dewick's Plusia moth this morning.

 Tuesday 21st September 2021.

The Dewick's Plusia moth.

It looks as though my new blog is up and running on the internet due to a superb young lad who works in Curry’s, Anchorage Park. My computer crashed on me last night (ouch!) and so I paid a visit to Curry’s to see if I could get it fixed, but to no avail and therefore I decided to opt to buy a new Laptop instead. OK, I am not a computer whizz kid and my computer skills are limited, but am a quick learner and this young lad, late this afternoon, really helped me negotiate the computer with ease, although typing on this new keyboard will take getting used to.

A very pale Lesser Yellow Underwing.

My moth box came up with the goods this morning when I found my 3rd ever Dewick’s Plusia (top photo) perched nicely behind the moth box on the white sheet. I quickly ‘potted’ the moth and took it indoors to get a better photo of it later in the evening along with an interesting moth that was eventually confirmed as a Lesser Yellow Underwing, a rather pale individual that was quite worn.

This morning, the following moths were present:

• Box Tree Moth 7

• Dewick’s Plusia 1

• Garden Carpet 1

• Light Emerald 1

• L-album Wainscot 1

• Lesser Yellow Underwing 1

• Willow Beauty 1

• Common Plume 2

• Light Brown Apple Moth 1

• Brown House Moth 1

• Tachystola acroxantha 1

OK, not a great deal of moths, but it certainly is getting cooler at night and unless we get a very late heatwave, I fully expect the moth numbers to dwindle, but there is still time to get more species under my belt this year. Giant House Spiders are now on the prowl and one individual was on the brick wall opposite the box with a further two more seen at my Fratton Branch today. Both Cellar Spiders and False Black Widows are certainly on the increase in and around my house, but simply find them fascinating.

I was busy working on the Ambulance today and how my work colleague puts up with me is a mystery as I was pointing out all the birds I was looking at including Jays, several Common Buzzards and at least one Kestrel. We spotted a pair of young Foxes this morning at the back of our Fareham branch as we woke them from a nice snooze in the morning sunshine.

A Box Tree Moth and a Light Emerald.

Yesterday, I was working over Warblington Cemetery and I was somewhat surprised at how many birder’s were making their way to see the Glossy Ibis that was still present at Nore Barn. Even my work colleagues were asking what were they looking for. While there, in a gorgeous blue sky, a couple of Common Buzzards soared overhead; a female Sparrowhawk also was seen flying over being chased by several Crows and several flocks of Meadow Pipits and Swallows flew by also. A Southern Hawker buzzed around a tall Yew Tree by the Church. In the afternoon, I had work to do over The Oaks Crematorium and making my way to the main entrance, I pointed out a flock of 5 Yellow Wagtails going over to another work colleague.

After meeting Andy Fisher’s nephew, Richard, last Saturday morning, Andy and myself are going to join his Whatsapp group page, the 'Lazee Birders' ,which should be really interesting for the future. Hopefully, some interesting bird sightings are on the horizon.    

Dusky Thorn moth & a walk around the Cemy.

Sunday 19^th September 2021.

A very grey and dark start to the day with the weather forecast predicting heavy rain coming in this afternoon. Of course, I put the moth box on overnight and there was a reasonable number of moths to look at with a total of 52 moths of 15 species. The pick of the bunch was my 3^rd Dusky Thorn of the year and quite a smart individual too. The most numerous species were the Willow Beauty's with 10 present today. The following moths were present this morning:

• 4 Pale Mottled Willow
• 10 Willow Beauty
• 7 Box Tree Moth
• 1 Cypress Pug
• 6 Double-stripe Pug
• 6 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 2 Lime-speck Pug
• 1 Small Dusty Wave
• 1 Square-spot Rustic
• 7 Large Yellow Underwing
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character
• 1 Brimstone Moth
• 1 Dusky Thorn
• 2 Tachystola acroxantha
• 2 Common Plume

Above, two photos of the Dusky Thorn moth and bottom photo, the Cypress Pug.

There was very little visible migration overhead, though a pair of Meadow Pipits did fly over heading west. Yesterday evening, a Willowchiff was calling somewhere in the gardens, but very little else, but I will always keep my eyes open as the Autumn progresses. I got a text from birding pal Geoff Farwell who was birding at Broughton Down near Stockbridge, north Hampshire. He said he had a 'cracking' Goshawk over along with 8 Buzzards, 2 Red Kites, 2 Raven, Woodlark, 8+ Blackcap and 4+ Chiffchaffs along with several Chalk-hill Blue butterflies. I am hoping to take Scruff for a walk later this morning to my local patch, Highland Road Cemetery. So, watch this space.

Highland Road Cemetery looking north from the southern end.  

The rain finally fell this morning around 11am, but before that, I managed a nice walk around Highland Road Cemetery with Scruff. Though looking quite dark in the south, the heavy cloud cover did not put me off and it was quite mild with very little wind. There were a few dog walkers present this morning, which is to be expected on a Sunday, but all were polite as they passed us by.

Top photo: though only Robin I saw this morning, though a few were heard singing about the Cemy. Botom photo: A female Drone Fly perched on a bush beside the footpath.

There was quite a few Chiffchaffs around the Cemetery, with the area near the Holm Oaks being popular with at least 7 birds in that particular area, along with at least 6 Long-tailed Tits. The latter species are not very common here and I think I have only seen them just three times since I have been coming here. Still, always a pleasure to see as they flick their way though the branches, trailing their long tail. At least 3 more Chiffchaffs were seen in the southern half of the Cemy, but I am sure there were probably a lot more. Sadly, no other warblers and to be honest, sightings of any bird was at a premium.

Top photo: Collared Doves are a common occurrence within the Cemetery and can roost in large numbers in the winter here. Bottom photo: one of the many Chiffchaffs present this morning.

I eventually had 15 species of bird on my walk, though most were actually only heard, including Wren, Great Tit and a few others. I was hoping for a bit of visible migration overhead, but the sky was virtually empty, bar a few Starlings and Gulls flying over. Nothing of note was perched on any of the gravestones, but I was more than surprised when I saw a grave getting ready for a funeral next week as Burials here are extremely rare as the Cemetery is full.

Top photo: next weeks funeral preparation in the Cemetery, which is rare here as the place is full. Bottom photo: Fleabane growing on one of the graves on the east side, adding a splash of colour.

Because it was cloudy, there were very few Hoverflies about this morning and no butterflies were on the wing at all. A female Drone fly was noted perched on a small bush and good numbers of the Syrphus species hoverfly were on the wing in various areas of the Cemy, but were quite difficult to photograph as they were quite skittish. A lot of Squirrels were down to ground level, busy stocking up with acorns and seeds to store away for Winter, especially around the Holm Oaks area. All the usual plants were noted, though I did find a rather large Prickly Sow-thistle growing in one of the graves. I am looking to take another trip over to the Cemy this afternoon as my ever demanding granddaughter wants to ride her bike around there. Ho hum!

Top photo: a scarce bird in this Cemetery, the Long-tailed Tit, which I counted at least 6 birds. Bottom photo: Honey Fungus making a return with this individual growing under one of the tall Beech Trees.

Locally, a Spoonbill is on Titchfield Haven and the one on Medmerry RSPB Reserve is still present along with the nearby Osprey. A Merlin was also reported there this morning. Returning Brent Geese have been seen passing Selsey Bill this morning, so it should not be long before they arrive in Langstone Harbour. Finally, the Glossy Ibis is still visiting its favoured field at Nore Barn today.

I took Isabelle for a ride on her bike around the Cemetery late this afternoon and seeing it closes now at 7pm, we had less than an hour for her to enjoy cycling along the footpaths. For me personally, I got to see a Great Spotted Woodpecker briefly, flying from one tree to another and even the Jays were heard calling, both species being absent earlier today. Isabelle particularly enjoyed watching a Squirrel high up in a Horse Chestnut tree, munching off the prickly shell off a Chestnut. A Migrant Hawker dragonfly made a brief appearance along the footpath near the Holm Oaks and even Isabelle managed to see it as it disappeared between the bushes. The 'yellow weather' warning issued by the Met Office turned out to be miss-information yet again as bright sunshine shone over the Cemy as we made our way home.