Tuesday 18th July 2023.
It was a lot warmer today with hardly any wind and temperatures getting up to around 23 degrees centigrade. Good washing weather they might say! There was just one small shower today and I got caught in it, but thankfully, in the car; so apart from that, it was a nice day. The high cloud was quite impressive too as I checked the sky through my sunglasses and enjoyed the many Swifts on the wing today. In fact, a flock of around 20+ birds flew low over my road late this afternoon, which I am sure probably contained some of my fledged youngsters?
On my first shift today in Old Portsmouth, all the usual birds were seen and even a Wren was heard singing nearby, though I never got a glimpse of the bird. An interesting sighting was a pair of Meadow Pipits flying high north. Were these failed breeders or simply had their brood and decided to move back north? But it was insects that grabbed my attention. Both Buff-tailed and White-tailed Bumblebees were abundant around the flower beds where I stood this morning and even a few small spiders had built their small webs among the plants. However, a small micro moth caught my attention and eventually once it settled on a plant, it turned out to be a Carnation Tortrix (Cacoecimorpha pronubana); a species that I have seen here earlier in the year.
Both Red Admiral and Small White Butterflies were seen flying around the flower beds and across the road and I even saw one of the latter flying very high in the sky and heading north. Back in my Southsea garden, Holly Blue butterflies were making themselves known, fluttering around the trees and bushes and even a Red Admiral popped in briefly before shooting off over the gardens. Tonight, my moth box is going on, seeing I have not put the trap on for a few days now. Some cracking moths have been reported locally in Hampshire too and hopefully, I just might get something really special overnight.
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