A good species count at Pembroke Road.

Wednesday 17th April 2024.

This pair of Herring Gulls look as though they could be planning to build a nest on my neighbours chimney?

Yet again, hardly any moths again this morning from my Moth Box, with just two present and so it was down to Pembroke Road to come up with all the excitement today. The weather, though cold first thing, was bright and sunny as I had an early start here at Pembroke Road, for I had to drop my wife off to pick her car up. So I took a walk around Curtain Moat for about 20 minutes, which helped build my day total here up to 21 species.

There were just the two moths present this morning that included (above) an Early Grey and (below) a Double-striped Pug.

The Moth Box:

There were two moths around my moth box this morning that included an Early Grey that was perched on the wall opposite and a Double-striped Pug that was sitting on the fence panel on the opposite side of the garden. Again, there was nothing in the moth box itself. 

One of several Batman Hoverflies present in my back garden this afternoon.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

The early morning walk by Curtain Moat brought me the most species here today that included a good look over the Solent where I saw a pair of Shelduck flying west low over the sea and a small herd of three Mute Swans flying much closer heading west towards Portsmouth Harbour. A Chiffchaff flew over my head, calling while doing so, but quickly flew into cover and that was the last I saw of it. A few Linnets and Goldfinches were seen flying over and all the usual birds were noted. The male Sparrowhawk was seen both this morning and this afternoon on the hunt for prey and was seen to stoop behind the Holm Oaks near the Bowling Green, but whether it caught anything is anyone's guess. I kept a good eye out overhead for my first Swift of the year and although Fishlake Meadows had a good few, I saw none today. 

Above, one of several female Hairy-footed Flower Bees that was in my garden today and below, a Smooth Sow-thistle flower. I am reluctant to pull these out of my garden pots as the Bees love the flowers and I encourage people to let them flower before grubbing them up.

Later in the afternoon, during my lunch hour, I spent it in the back garden and watched the local Bees go about their business around the plants. The vast majority were Hairy-footed Flower Bees, mostly female with just the one male seen and the others were Batman Hoverflies. A Holly Blue butterfly flew over briefly, enjoying the warm sunshine in my back garden.