A 'lifer' moth at Portchester Crematorium.

Thursday 9 June 2022.

Yesterday's exciting little moth was this Taleporia tubulosa at Portchester Crematorium.

A cool start to the morning (12 degrees) and with a clear blue sky overhead, I just knew the moth numbers in and around my moth box was going to be low. Indeed it was with just 25 moths of 20 species and nothing new for the year either to make getting up at 4.45am any easier!  A few Swifts were sailing overhead and a Blackbird belted over the garden heading south, but nothing more interesting than that while checking the moths. The following moths were recorded in and around my moth box this morning:

• 1 Yellow-barred Brindle
• 1 Lime-Speck Pug
• 1 Common Pug
• 2 Willow Beauty
• 4 White Ermine
• 1 Brimstone Moth
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 1 L-album Wainscot
• 1 Heart & Dart
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character
• 1 Bright-line Brown-eye
• 1 Common Marbled Carpet
• 1 Apple Leaf Miner
• 2 Mompha subbistrigella
• 1 Common Plume
• 1 Celypha striana
• 1 Brown House Moth
• 1 Tachystola acroxantha
• 1 Diamond-back Moth

Yesterday, back over at Portchester Crematorium, the following moths were found: singles of White Ermine, Eudonia angustea and two Garden Carpets (even here it has been very quiet of late) and I also found an interesting micro which I quickly potted. I then placed the photo on both the Hants Moths and UK Micro Moth Facebook pages and eventually, moth expert Ben Sale came to the conclusion it was in fact a Taleporia tubulosa, or to give it its vernacular name, Large Bright Birch and a member of the ‘Bagworm’ family of moths. I cannot recall ever seeing one of these before, so it might as well go down as a ‘lifer’.

Celypha striana. I am getting this species on a regular basis at present.

The Diamond-back Moth. This common immigrant moth was the only migrant moth in my box today. Some lucky guys into moth have been recording the rare Striped Hawk-moth to their respective moth traps, with two recorded yesterday that were not too far away from where I live.

Also yesterday, I noticed the female Sparrowhawk was defending her nest at Chichester Crematorium, with the bird chasing off a Carrion Crow which got too close to the nest site and what does not help is a pair of Magpies nesting nearby too! A few Kestrels and Common Buzzards were also seen along the A27, but not a great deal else of note, bar a Sandwich Tern flying over Hayling Island heading west towards Langstone Harbour as I drove past the Esso Garage. The Dippers are still showing well in Romsey on the River Test and a pair of Glossy Ibis are still showing well on the Posbrook Floods. Hopefully, I might catch up with this species soon?