My first Tiger moth of the year.

Thursday 20th July 2023.

My first Jersey Tiger of the year on the white sheet.

As I have the day off today, I decided to put the moth box on again and was rewarded with several more new moths for the year, including my first Jersey Tiger moth. Fellow birder Emma Parkes said she saw one recently and lucky for me, I had one perched on the white sheet first thing this morning. A clear blue sky awaited me at 5.10am with little or no wind and at 13 degrees centigrade, a nice start to the day.

Above, a smart Blair's Mocha was near the moth box and below, up to 4 Four-spotted Obscure micro moths were present today, my first of the year.

101 moths of 42 species was a very good total this morning and among these were five new moths for the year. The Jersey Tiger was a good start to the day along with the micro moths, European Corn borer, Pellitory Cosmet, House Neb and Four-spotted Obscure adding to my year list rounded off a really good haul of moths. Probably the same August Thorn as yesterday was present below the moth box while last night's Least Carpet could not be found. Yet another two Silver Y's were present in the back bedroom of which I shall try and capture them and release later today.

Above, my first ever Sallow Button (Acleris hastiana) micro moth and below, the European Corn borer, which was new for the year.

The moths recorded this morning included the following:

• 1 Jersey Tiger (NFY)
• 4 Double-striped Pug
• 5 Riband Wave
• 3 Marbled Beauty
• 4 Silver Y
• 1 Cabbage Moth
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 1 Blair’s Mocha
• 1 Silver Y
• 1 Brimstone Moth
• 3 Lime-speck Pug
• 2 Willow Beauty
• 1 August Thorn
• 2 Buff Ermine
• 1 Lackey Moth
• 2 Cloaked Minor
• 4 Common Rustic
• 2 Pale Mottled Willow
• 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart
• 2 Large Yellow Underwing
• 1 Bright-line Brown-eye
• 15 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 7 Apple Leaf Miner
• 1 Privet Tortrix
• 6 Marsh Dowd
• 2 Bird-cherry Ermine
• 1 Beautiful Plume
• 3 Ruddy Streak
• 1 Codling Moth
• 1 Rosy Tabby
• 4 Common Plume
• 3 Dingy Dowd
• 2 Garden Grass-veneer
• 2 Small Grey
• 1 False Cacao Moth
• 3 Four-spotted Obscure (NFY)
• 1 Italian tubic
• 1 Rusty-dot Pearl
• 1 European Corn borer (NFY)
• 1 Meal Moth
• 1 Pellitory Cosmet (NFY)
• 1 House Neb (NFY)
• 1 SALLOW BUTTON (LIFER)

On the birding scene nationally, the UK’s second sighting of a Black-winged Kite was seen yesterday at Horsey Gap in Norfolk and is still present this morning according to Birdguides. At least one of the ‘Lazee Birders’ went up to see the bird last night, so hopefully, some photos will come of this gorgeous raptor. As we have seen in the news, the Mediterranean is like an oven at the moment with record temperatures hitting near 50 degrees centigrade!! No wonder a lot of Mediterranean species have been arriving in the UK of late. The famous Coto Donana nature reserve in Spain has virtually dried up!

A different angle of the Jersey Tiger moth this morning. I put it safely within some of my pot plants to help hide it from the Sparrows.

Stop press: Just double-checked another micro moth from this morning and it is in fact a ‘lifer’! A Sallow Button (Acleris hastiana) was identified on close up photos. I thought it looked a bit odd and larger than the Light Brown Apple Moth and therefore potted it so I could have a go at properly identifying it later this morning. My official life list on micro moths now stands at 257 species in the UK.

I thought I would do a quick update on today's blog entry as there were a few notable sightings during the afternoon. The Jersey Tiger was still present near the moth box again, perched on the white sheet to be exact. I thought it would be an easy target for the House Sparrows, so I picked it up to put back into the plants for safety. However, I noticed that the underwing of the moth was very tatty and it probably is on its last legs. Such a shame for such a beautiful moth.

Fulvous Pearl micro moth this afternoon.

I flushed another moth this afternoon that wasn't seen this morning. A Fulvous Pearl fluttered up and fortunately landed on the fence for me to quickly take a photo. I even found another Silver Y perched on one of the windows sills. Butterflies within our garden included a good many Small Whites, several Holly Blues, a Red Admiral and even a Brimstone butterfly flew briefly over the garden!

This brilliant capture of a Hummingbird Hawk-moth that was taken by fellow 'Lazee' Andy Tew.

The reported Black-winged Kite had done a runner by 9.30am this morning at Horsey Gap, but amazingly, it was reported again and showing well 80 miles away near Felixstowe at 7pm. Earlier today, I took our Sinead to Portchester for a spot of shopping and on the way there, both a Common Buzzard (perched on a lamp post) and a female Sparrowhawk with prey in her talons, were both seen while travelling north along the M275. Large flocks of Swifts are now gathering over my Southsea home with at least 20 birds hawking insects low down over the rooftops. I can still hear the faint calls of youngsters in the Swift nestboxes.

The Black-winged Kite which is now in Suffolk this evening. Photo by Nick Bristow.