Wheatear found at the southern end of the Cemetery

Tuesday 12th September 2023.

Bloxworth Snout moth near the moth box.

I checked the weather last night and they said it wasn't going to rain in the morning. How wrong could they be!!!! I could hear the rain falling outside from the bedroom window before my 6am alarm went off, so when I got up, the first thing I did was put the rain guard on in case the rain got inside the box.

Above, my second Neat Mompha micro moth of the year and below, a Blair's Mocha.

Sadly, nothing new within the moth box but again, a nice haul of moths despite the wet weather, which soon disappeared as we neared 7am. A pristine Bloxworth Snout was present on the garden fence and 2 Old Lady moths were within the moth box. 2 Clancy’s Rustics and Blair's Mocha were arguably the pick of the bunch, but my second Neat Mompha (Mompha divisella) of the year (the first was in April) was the best of the micros. My first Light Emerald in my garden this year was also present among the 122 moths of 30 species today.

Left, a Box Tree Moth and right, my first Light Emerald moth for my moth box this year.

The moths present this morning included the following:

• 14 Willow Beauty
• 2 Silver Y
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 4 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 2 Vines Rustic
• 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart
• 18 Pale Mottled Willow
• 1 Small Dusty Wave
• 2 Setaceous Hebrew Character
• 2 Old Lady
• 1 Bloxworth Snout
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 9 Square-spot Rustic
• 1 White-point
• 12 L-album Wainscot
• 13 Large Yellow Underwing
• 2 Clancy’s Rustic
• 1 Lime-speck Pug
• 1 Light Emerald
• 1 Blair’s Mocha
• 15 Box Tree Moth
• 1 Apple Leaf Miner
• 3 Rusty-dot Pearl
• 1 White-shouldered House Moth
• 3 Narrow-winged Grey
• 1 Gold Triangle
• 3 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 4 Ruddy Streak
• 1 Neat Mompha
• 1 Pellitory Cosmet

A distant Wheatear on a rooftop just south of the Cemetery this morning was a real surprise.

Overhead, Siskins flew high overhead and of course, no sighting of them for being too high up, but I did see the lone Meadow Pipit flying east high over the houses. Once I got back from my first shift in Pembroke Road this morning, I decided to take the dogs around Highland Road Cemetery again. I wasn't going to at first as I was going to take them around the block instead, but that rain this morning had me thinking and possibly it might have possibly dropped off a migrant or two. How right I was (makes a change!).

Bracket Fungus growing on the old bough of a fallen tree.

Truth of the matter is that it wasn't till I was processing the photos I took in the Cemy this morning that a small passerine perched on a rooftop to the south of the Cemy was in fact a Wheatear! I was more than surprised, for it was some distance away and I did not have binoculars at the time. I have had Wheatears in the Cemy before, but not for many years, so that was a nice bonus.

A Starling was in full song on the Chimney Pots at the southern end of the Cemy.

Other migrants present included a Willow Warbler (heard only) and a Meadow Pipit flying south, but apart from that, again, all the usual species present. It might seem a little tedious mentioning the same birds each time I go to the Cemetery, but in say 10 or 15 years time, a lot of these birds could have disappeared from the UK if the current trend of birds disappearing in the south carries on. Look at Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail and Willow Tit, which are near non-existent as breeding birds here in the south. Sad indeed.

A Red Admiral butterfly perched up on a house also at the southern end of the Cemy.

Very few insects on the wing this morning in the Cemy, with just a few Large White and Red Admiral butterflies seen this morning and one Vapourer Moth. On my afternoon shift at Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth; there were sightings of the Hummingbird Hawk Moth again enjoying nectaring on the blue flowering bush by the houses and overhead, a female Sparrowhawk soared low over the houses, with a squadron of Starlings keeping a close eye on the bird.

In the centre of this photo, I managed to get a photo of the Hummingbird Hawk-moth from my mobile camera.

This superb image of a Common Whitethroat was recently photographed by Pete Appleton.