Midweek update.

Wednesday 30th March 2022.

My first Brindled Pug of the year, which I found at The Oaks Crematorium yesterday.

Tuesday was a lot cooler than of late with occasional showers, but it remained overcast most of the day. I did not put the moth box on overnight due to the fact there was rain predicted and so I played safe. I have bought a new rain guard for my box which I shall christen tonight as more rain is on the cards.

Also found at The Oaks was this 'Grass Moth' Ypsolopha mucronella.

My first job today took me over to The Oaks Crematorium where on entry to the grounds, the diggers were busy getting on with building the new housing estate by the main entrance. Yes, unbelievable that they could build a brand new load of unaffordable houses to the many, next to a modern ‘state of the art’ Crematorium. It’s a case of f*** the wildlife and the serene beauty of the place and shove a load of ugly buildings on it. But hey ho, that's what this lunatic Government wants to do with our green spaces.

This Bee Fly was found in a moribund state covered in spiders web at Portchester Crem yesterday.

On a positive note, the woodland beside The Oaks held singing Nuthatch, Chiffchaff and Blackcap; the latter was seen very well high up in some trees as I pointed it out to one of my work colleagues before it flew off north and deeper into the woodland. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over the car park and into the west side of the woods, while earlier on the bird feeders, at least two Coal Tits were showing well among the many Blue and Great Tits present. I did check out the Book of Remembrance building for any moths and came up with two micro moths, a single Common Plume and even better, my first Ypsolopha mucronella of the year. 

Sadly, for such a lovely Streamer moth, this photo was the best I could get using my mobile phone camera. I was hoping it might of moved lower down on the wall it sat on, but it remained in exactly the same place as yesterday! 

In the afternoon, a visit to Portchester Crematorium produced a few more moths, all seen around the exit of the South Chapel: 3 Common Plume, a single Beautiful Plume and best of all, my first Streamer of the year. Just a shame that the photo of this stunning little moth was so poor, but it was high up and taken using my mobile phone camera. I checked the windows on the flower bay, but could not find any more moths but I did find a Bee Fly of which I rescued from some spider web, though I think it had passed away. There were virtually no other bird sightings here of note, but a singing Skylark somewhere high up in the sky remained elusive. An Alpine Swift was found late this afternoon at Chilling Cliffs, but though a few record photo shots were taken, the bird did not linger and headed off fast northbound.  

Above, a view of the edge of the woodland on the west side of The Oaks Crematorium where the Blackcap was singing from. Below, a dead Minotaur Beetle I found in the grounds at this location.  

I was a bit shocked to find next to no moths in and around my moth box early this morning, with only one Light Brown Apple Moth to justify using my electric all night! When I got home this evening, I did find two Common Plume moths in the garden; scant consolation for last night. It was overcast all morning but in the afternoon, the sun tried desperately to shine through the gloom as I donned my new sunglasses for work for the first time. Annoyingly, my back is playing up again as I think I have a trapped nerve somewhere below my shoulder blade. I really do not want to take any more time off work seeing as I have the Dentist tomorrow morning, which I am NOT looking forward to!

The Hoverfly species, Melanostoma scalare, a male, in my garden tonight.

My first job today was around midday and that was at Portchester Crematorium. A check around the South Chapel exit produced yesterday’s Streamer moth which looked as though it had not moved since yesterday either! There were also two Common Plume moths, but I could not find any other moths around the area or the flower bay. On my travels today, a male Kestrel was seen perched on a lamp post near Farlington Marshes by the A3M and a Common Buzzard was seen distantly soaring over Portsdown Hill. There was a bit of activity over The Oaks Crematorium as the singing male Blackcap put in another good appearance. A couple of Common Buzzards lazily drifted over the back of the Crem and a Coal Tit perched in a small tree and sang, while deep within the woodland, both Great Spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch were calling. 

Above, the Black-browed Albatross off Flamborough Head last year. Photo by Andy Tew and below, the same bird on the rocks with Gannets. Photo by John Manley. Both from the Lazee gang!

News broke today of the return of the Black-browed Albatross off Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire and made several fly passes over the cliffs! There is a possible chance that a ‘twitch’ might be on with the ‘Lazee’s’ should the bird remain in the area again. The Bonaparte's Gull is still on Chichester Gravel Pits again this afternoon and a Ring Ouzel was reported by one observer at Chilling Cliffs.