Thursday 1st May 2025.
This superb Puss Moth was found by my Moth Box this morning.
This warm weather is most certainly bringing in the Moths to my garden and with it being quite mild overnight, I was in for a very nice haul of moths and many new for the year too. Another month has gone and a new one has begun and we all know that May can be good for rarities in the UK. Yesterday’s American Golden Plover on Farlington Marshes was proof of that and also the Pomarine Skua Spring movement has gathered pace here on the south coast with birds passing many local headlands. A wet weather front is coming in on Saturday morning and I hope to make full use of it with a possible trip to Gilkicker early in the morning. Lets hope the guys can get up early? Swifts have been recorded in various sites locally and I actually saw my first one over my road this morning while walking the dogs. At last.
The Moth Box:
Common Carpet.
The Moth Box was full of surprises this morning with 9 more species added to my year list! Pick of the bunch easily was my second ever Puss Moth that was resting on the brick wall by my kitchen. I carefully placed it in one of the pots to grab some decent photos and then returned it to one of my outside egg trays for safe keeping. What a moth!
Above, Yellow-barred Brindle and below, a Turnip Moth.
Above, a Garden Carpet and below, the gorgeous Puss Moth.
Other new moths for the year included a Turnip Moth, Wormwood Pug, Garden Carpet, Common Carpet, Yellow-barred Brindle, Pale Mottled Willow and the micro moths, Garden Pebble and an Ash Bud Moth. My Moth Box also attracted a Hoverfly, a Spring Smoothtail (Epistrophe eligans).
Above, an Ash Bud Moth and below, a Wormwood Pug.
Pale Mottled Willow.
The total moths recorded this morning included the following:
Micro Moths:
- Puss Moth x1
- Garden Carpet x2
- Common Carpet x1
- Yellow-barred Brindle x2
- Pale Mottled Willow x1
- Turnip Moth x1
- Bloxworth Snout x1
- Double-striped Pug x5
- Wormwood Pug x1
- Bright-line Brown-eye x2
- Vine’s Rustic x1
- Least Black Arches x2
Micro Moths:
- Ruddy Streak x7
- Light Brown Apple Moth x4
- White-shouldered House Moth x2
- Garden Pebble x1
- Ash Bud Moth x1
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
This Hoverfly, a Spring Smoothtail was within my Moth Box today.
As mentioned, another bright sunny morning here in Old Portsmouth and during my hour here on my first shift, a total of 14 species were recorded. Four Collared Doves flying together heading east over the road stole the headlines; for they are rare in this part of Portsmouth. Again, all the usual birds were seen or heard and hopefully, a few more will be seen later today.
Yesterday's American Golden Plover with the Curlew Sandpiper on Farlington Marshes. Photo by Jason Crook.
A fellow Lazee took some photos while birding off Hurst yesterday and on inspection later in the evening, one of the waders that was photographed with Dunlin was a female Kentish Plover! Just goes to show that you really have to check your photos in case something unusual. Four Pomarine Skua’s were reported this morning from Cut Bridge, Milford-on-sea; this morning and headed off eastbound and another three reported heading east off Selsey Bill and a Black Tern over a flat calm sea.
Forty Acres, Bedhampton.
A ropey photo of the Red-legged Partridge at Forty Acres from my mobile phone.
It was back over to Forty Acre in Bedhampton late this afternoon to take my stepdaughters dog, Margot, for another walk. By now, it was very warm with the temperatures getting up to the mid-seventies as we made our way down to the fields near the Railway Line. A Swallow was singing overhead as we rounded the fields and again, by the Railway Line, I could hear the songs of Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warbler and Common Whitethroats and the icing on the cake, my first Lesser Whitethroat ‘rattling’ in nearby brambles. Another unexpected bird was a lone Red-legged Partridge walking by the brambles, but always running away from us as I tried to get a better look.
Margot thoroughly (she is a large Labradoodle) enjoyed her walk and I enjoyed the birds and picked up a ‘year-tick’ into the bargain. Happy days. Having earlier seen a Swift over my road this morning, while waiting at the traffic lights at Devonshire Avenue, I saw a small flock of four Swifts sailing high over the rooftops heading west. They truly are back now and I cannot wait when they start checking out the 14 nest-boxes in my road later this month.
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