Another reasonable haul of moths.

Tuesday 2nd July 2024.

Clancy's Rustic. They used to be a very rare moth in my garden, but now I get them annually and in reasonable numbers too. 

A fair selection of moths to kick off the month of July were present this morning in and around my Moth Box, that included yet another four new species for the year; two ‘macro’ moths Clancy’s Rustic and Marbled Beauty and two ‘micro’ moths, Meal Moth and the now newly named Black-banded Masoner (I believe it used to be called Sussex Dowd last year!). My second Small Ranunculus of the year (the last one was at the beginning of last month) and also my second Common Rustic as well. There was an odd Heart & Dart present on one of the outside egg trays which I thought at first, was something completely different. However, like butterflies, you can still get aberrant individuals out there. Among the 64 moths of 25 species, the moths recorded this morning were as follows:

• Riband Wave 6
• Lime-speck Pug 3
• Heart & Dart 4
• Pale Mottled Willow 2
• Common Pug 3
• Bright-line Brown-eye 2
• Dark Arches 4
• L-album Wainscot 3
• Lackey 6
• Willow Beauty 3
• White Ermine 2
• Garden Carpet 2
• Small Ranunculus
• Common Rustic
• Marbled Beauty (New For Year)
• Clancy’s Rustic (NFY)
• Black-banded Masoner (NFY)
• Meal Moth (NFY)
• Garden Grey 4
• Apple Leaf Miner
• Garden Grass-veneer 2
• Box-tree Moth 5
• Bee Moth 
• Ruddy Streak
• Blushed Knot-horn 4

Above, the Black-banded Masoner and below, the Meal Moth.

Above, the nicely marked Marbled Beauty moth, which is a regular annual moth to my garden.

A quiet day around Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth today with just 13 species of birds recorded during my both shifts here. A couple of Med Gulls were seen (virtually daily now) as was a pair of Swifts, but no raptors today. A Red Admiral butterfly flew around the front gardens until flying off over the houses. Between my shifts, I visited my father up in Lovedean and while watching the Robins going in and out of their nest close to my fathers Conservatory, I saw a distant Red Kite drifting high over the houses.

Above, Emma Parkes took these lovely photos (above) when at Woolmer Pond with us last Saturday. From top to bottom: Hobby, Damselflies on the Pond and the male Redstart. Below, one of the adult Roseate Terns feeding its chicks on Squid at Normandy Marshes. Photo by Steve Laycock.