Great Skua added to our year list at Selsey Bill.

Saturday 30th October 2021.

A record photo of the Great Skua heading west off Selsey Bill this morning. Our first of the year. 

I knew the weather was going to be grim this morning, but there was a chance it would come out brighter as the day wore on. It was hammering down with rain here in Southsea first thing this morning and it was looking doubtful that I would even go birding this morning, but by 8.30 am, the weather looked a lot better and so I took a drive north to pick Andy up.

A rather worn Yellow-lined Quaker in Andy's garden this morning.

This Yellow-lined Quaker was not so fortunate.

I did not put my moth box on overnight as I knew it was going to be very wet first thing in the morning, but at least Andy did and it attracted just a few moths; notably a Yellow-lined Quaker and a Box Tree Moth. I did find another Yellow-lined Quaker being consumed by a False Widow Spider and other moths, I could see, were in its larder! After a quick slice of toast and a cup of coffee, off we went to Selsey Bill. I decided on this location as both Arctic Skua and Great Skua, two species I have not seen this year, had been seen throughout the week and in blowy conditions, we stood a fair chance of at least getting one of them.

My good self sporting my new Scopac telescope carrier by Pagham Harbour today.

When we arrived, we had already driven through some very heavy showers, though it started to look brighter south over the sea. We also saw first hand the grubbed out garden in front of the Bill House and therefore the protection of the fence and plants had gone as we sat on the ‘Comfy Seat’ to begin our two hour sea watch. The land here has all been ploughed over and it will be interesting to see what is going to be put in its place to replace all the lost vegetation. I do know the regular Selsey sea-watchers are very annoyed about it.

Gannets passing the Bill in choppy conditions.

Apart from the odd shower or two, the weather held out and it became sunny although breezy, with a fresh South-westerly breeze blowing off the sea. Good numbers of Gannets were noted, with some roughly half a mile out and therefore worth a photo. The best sighting of all was our first Great Skua of the year flying about ¾ mile out at sea heading west. I even managed a photo of the bird, but nothing to write home about apart from on my Blog of course! Though we never saw any Arctic Skua, one was reported earlier in the day.

A Herring Gull in winter plumage perched on the triangle in front of us.

Other notable sightings included one Razorbill heading east; 2 adult Kittiwakes flying west, 2 Med Gulls offshore, 2 Great Crested Grebes flying west close in and several Turnstone flying over the beach. A few flocks of Linnet and Goldfinch were noted flying over, but no late Wheatears on the beach. Though the place is poorer for the lack of vegetation now, someone has opened up a Coffee shack in the car park and we duly obliged with a couple of Latte’s to go!

A pair of Lesser Redpolls flew in to the Churchyard area and duly obliged by perching on a dead tree.

Our next stop was to Church Norton and to check both the Churchyard and nearby Pagham harbour. I tested out my new Scopac telescope carrier and it all looked good and felt comfortable. Our trip to this site kicked off nicely when a pair of Lesser Redpolls landed on a dead tree to our north as we made our way to the harbour. The birds were busy preening and showed very well as I reeled off several photos. At least three Siskins were seen flying high over the Churchyard. We made our way to the benches overlooking the harbour to the east and I checked out the many waders present that included Grey Plover, Dunlin, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Lapwing and Curlew. I even found a lone Bar-tailed Godwit in the harbour. The only raptors seen were a pair of Kestrels that flew over the Church and then the male bird flew off over the harbour.

Redshank feeding in the harbour.

Bar-tailed Godwit also in the harbour.

We were hoping for a Short-eared Owl or a Merlin, but the harbour would not oblige today; but we settled for a nice array of waders. A small flock of Brent Geese seemed to fly out of the harbour and out to sea and several flocks of Wigeon were also seen flying over the harbour. The occasional Skylark flew over, calling in doing so, while Andy laid down on one of the benches, getting some sleep! A walk around the Churchyard produced sightings of a Kestrel again and also a few Jays were seen too. The sun brought out good numbers of Red Admiral butterflies, especially around the flowering Ivy plants that also attracted the Ivy Bees, Common Wasps and larger Hoverflies. Another enjoyable morning with plenty to look at again and now four more species to get for the magic 200 species for the year!

Ivy Bees and Tapered Drone Flies enjoying the flowering Ivy plants in the Churchyard.

Church Norton looking east.

The Great Grey Shrike was again seen today at Backley Bottom in the New Forest, close to the turn off for Picket Post. The two male Bramblings were on Titchfield Haven again along with the Little Stint, but it seemed quite quiet in Hampshire today.  

Could this be the UK's laziest Birder? It was all too much for Andy!

An end of an era yesterday when the famous Chimney at Fawley Refinery was demolished. This famous landmark, which could be seen from Hill Head looking west, always reminded me of the same colours of a summer plumage Red-necked Grebe! Here is the link:  

https://www.facebook.com/616554369/videos/205904025018140/

Angle Shades was the best of the moth catch.

Thursday 28th October 2021.

An Angle Shades moth is always nice to see by the moth box.

A rather breezy cloudy day with the occasional spot of sunshine now and then, though i spent all morning indoors, it wasn't till the afternoon that i managed to get out and about in one of our company vehicles. My day kicked off again with another look at the moths, but as it was still dark, I only checked around the moth box and found very little. 

The micro moth, Tachystola acroxantha.

Last night, before heading off to bed, a quick check of the moth box revealed at least a few moths present including 4 Light Brown Apple Moths and a Double-striped Pug. However, this morning it was rather quiet. I left it till i got home this afternoon to check the moth box and the following moths were present:

• 5 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 2 Common Plume
• 1 Beautiful Plume
• 1 Tachystola acroxantha
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 1 Angle Shades
• 2 Box Tree Moth

One of the five Light Brown Apple Moths present this morning.

In Hampshire today, a Ring Ouzel was again seen down by the ford at Pigeon House Lane, on the northern side of Portsdown Hill; an juvenile Arctic Skua was off Keyhaven Marshes and a Little Stint (previously reported as a Semipalmated Sandpiper) was on the islands at Titchfield Haven. Though I don't like to see people ridiculed for mis-identifying birds, it was possibly an easy mistake to make, especially if their views are poor. God knows, I have done it more times than I can remember! 

I photographed this superb Bluethroat, which was seen around this time last year at Titchfield Haven. 

Yellow-lined Quaker moth added to year list.

Tuesday 26th October 2021.

My first Yellow-lined Quaker of the year on my moth box. 

Hot on the heels of getting my first Red-lined Quaker moth of the year over at Andy’s house last Saturday, this morning provided a Yellow-lined Quaker perched on my moth box in my garden! Yes, they are fairly common moths at this time of year, but I rarely see them in my garden and although there were very few moths today, I was quite chuffed to find this individual.

Lesser Yellow Underwing was the only other macro moth today.

It was fairly mild last night and so I put my moth box on again to try my luck. There must have been a bit of rain overnight as the garden patio was wet, so I was pleased that I put my rain-guard on over the box. Sadly, it was too dark this morning to check the box thoroughly and so I checked it out when I got home from work instead. There, I found the following moths present:

• 1 Yellow-lined Quaker
• 1 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 3 Common Plume……………….and that was it!

Top photo: a Goshawk. Bottom photo: Raven. Both photos by Andy Tew from the Lazee Birders which were taken in the New Forest today.   

I spent most of the day working indoors, but later in the afternoon, I had to take our Ambulance out on the road and the only sighting of note was a hovering Kestrel right by the edge of the M275 as we travelled northbound out of Portsmouth. I read with interest that a Red-necked Grebe was found in the Ferry Channel at Sidlesham, but I had to laugh when I discovered it was actually a Little Grebe! Other sightings today included a pair of Velvet Scoters through the Solent and a Ring Ouzel on Portsdown Hill. Portsdown Hill has also become a popular site along with Old Winchester Hill during late Autumn for Ring Ouzels and there is a good chance I might try my luck there this weekend, although I hear the weather looks to be grim this weekend.

Not the best of photos, but this Early Leafhopper (Acericerus ribauti) was in my moth box last Sunday and noticing the odd colouring of this very small insect, it had me intrigued and therefore I put a photo of it on the relevant Facebook page to see if it could be identified.  

As it is my Birthday next weekend, I have treated myself (with the wife’s permission of course) to purchase a Scopac telescope carrier, which should make life a lot easier while out birding with my scope. We shall see. 

This small micro moth was found last Saturday at the Information Centre at Blashford Lakes. It took a while, but I finally got an ID on it: Crocidosema plebjana, which, I believe, is a new 'lifer' species for me.   

Blair's Shoulder-knot moth added to year list.

Sunday 24th October 2021.

Blair's Shoulder-knot, my first of the year. 

It was back to the moths again this morning and my third moth ‘year-tick’ of the week was happily perched on the fence near the moth box, early this morning. It was dark when I first checked on the box at 6.30am and I quickly grabbed one of my pots to place a Blair’s Shoulder-knot moth into it. A quick check around the box revealed a few Common Plume’s, but it wasn't till 8am that I gave the area a thorough search.

Blastobasis lacticolella was a surprise moth this morning.

There were quite a few moths present, much more than I thought, which included the following:

• 1 Blair’s Shoulder-knot
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow
• 1 Feathered Ranunculus
• 1 L-album Wainscot
• 1 Bloxworth Snout
• 9 Box Tree Moth
• 1 Beautiful Plume
• 6 Common Plume
• 1 Tachystola acroxantha
• 6 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 1 Blastobasis lacticolella 

A Light Brown Apple Moth with a Box Tree Moth.  

I was out and about with my wife today, also helping out my daughter and her partner clean their house and taking stuff to Petersfield Refuse Tip and on my journey, there were sightings of a Kestrel hovering near the A3M by Farlington Marshes and over in Waterlooville, around the new Berewood estate, I spotted a Red Kite hunting over the farmland to the south. Sadly, where my daughter was living, the wasteland opposite her old residence is being sold for development; the same place where birding pal, John Goodall, had a Barn Owl one winter. The Government is intent on ripping up the countryside to make way for more unaffordable houses and accepting tens of thousands of more immigrants into the UK. The future looks so bleak for our children and grandchildren. 

The Blair's Shoulder-knot moth next to the worn Bloxworth Snout.