Garden Carpet moth & I'm on the telly!!!

Friday 26th April 2024.

Curtain Moat in Old Portsmouth. You can see Gosport in the distance and a part of the Solent. The shipping (Continental and Isle of Wight Ferries) make their way through the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour nearby. The possibility of finding a scarce bird here is promising, especially for this time of year.

An overcast morning, but quite still with hardly any wind either. There had been some rain showers overnight as my garden patio was a bit damp and raindrops were on the lid of my moth box. There were a few moths this morning, thankfully, and I even managed a short walk before I started work in Pembroke Road, down to the Curtain Moat to see if there was anything of note around here. You just never know where the next rarity could turn up?

Above, my first Garden Carpet moth of the year. Though a very common species, it is always nice to get the first one for the year. Below, the micro moth, Narrow-winged Grey (Eudonia angustea).

Above, a Light Brown Apple Moth. A very common moth in the UK that was accidentally imported from Australia.

The Moth Box:

There were just three moths present this morning, but at least one of them was new for the year; a Garden Carpet. Unfortunately, it flew off as soon as I turned the light off on the moth box, but I did get a couple of photos before it departed. The other two moths were both micro moths; one Light Brown Apple Moth that was on one of the egg trays and a Narrow-winged Grey, which was on the white sheet behind the box.

The footpath from Pembroke Road to the Curtain Moat. The Bowling Green is on the left hand side of the photo and to the right is the Governor's Green behind the shrubbery and trees here. There could always be some interesting birds hiding in here.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

I had 15 minutes spare this morning before I started work and so took a walk with my binoculars down to the Curtain Moat. I picked up 19 species this morning, largely thanks to taking the walk to the Moat area where the likes of a male Greenfinch, Robin, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail were seen; but apart from a few Herring Gulls, there was nothing flying over the Solent, though it was a bit misty out there. All the usual species were seen or heard this morning during my first shift and probably the most outstanding bird would have been a Cormorant flying high over Pembroke Road heading towards Portsmouth Harbour. It was a bit early for insects, but I did check out the plants growing on the verges along Curtain Moat that included both Red and White Dead-nettle, that were both abundant.   

The birds noted on my first shift this morning included the following:

Morning shift:

• Feral Pigeon
• Wood Pigeon
• Collared Dove
• Herring Gull
• Black-headed Gull
• Cormorant
• Wren
• Robin
• Blackbird
• Great Tit
• Blue Tit
• Carrion Crow
• Magpie
• Greenfinch
• Goldfinch
• Pied Wagtail
• House Sparrow
• Starling

Afternoon shift:

• Great Black-backed Gull

Roughly around midday, I pulled over by South Parade Pier to pop into a local Co-op and checking out some birds over by the far end of the Pier, I saw at least five fishing Common Terns and at least two adult Med Gulls. The tide was high within the Solent and I assume a shoal of fish was moving through.

Me, Geoff Farwell and Andy Fisher were on tonight's One Show on BBC1 tonight. Finally, they showed the film footage of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at Acres Down, New Forest, which was presented by Mike Dilger and his son. 

Even my birding pal Geoff Farwell was on there in between the two presenters. I did see Andy for a split second. Fame at last.