The hundred moth barrier broken.

Friday 20th June 2025.

At last, my first ever Miller moth.

Another balmy night produced the largest haul of moths for the year as I was up early again,checking the Moth Box and the surrounding area. There was a bit of a breeze this morning blowing over the garden, which I have to say was actually pleasant, though I was in company with an adult Herring Gull perched on top of our kitchen roof, watching my every move. I think it was after the dried Mealworms I had put out earlier for the House Sparrows!

At dusk, it was nice to sit out in the garden for a while over a nice ice cold beer and watch the Pipistrelle Bats hunt over the gardens. Up to three were seen and flew quite close to me a number of times. Three Med Gulls flew south heading towards the beach, calling as they passed and the Swifts had gathered up into small flocks overhead, screaming low over the rooftops. A lovely evening.

The Moth Box:

My first Snout moth of the year.

I finally broke the 100 species of moth barrier this morning with a grand total of 103 moths of 34 species. This included my first ever Miller moth; a species on my ‘most wanted’ list. I have seen a lot of other Hampshire ‘moth-ers’ having caught this species and so the long wait is finally over! Huzzah! The only other species new for the year was a Snout moth that sat on the brick keeping my rainguard down. Having seen 7 micro ‘year-ticks’ yesterday, not one was new for the year this morning! My first Elephant Hawk-moth in my garden this year was present (I had a few earlier this year in Devon), but it didn’t play ball and quickly flew out of the Moth Box. Easily, the most numerous species was the Riband Wave’s again with exactly the same number as yesterday, 15. Up to 9 Willow Beauties, 10 Common Plume’s and 8 Box Tree Moths were notable.

Drinker moth. Photo by 'Northern John'.

Birding pal, ‘Northern John’ had a Drinker moth on his back door this morning; a species I have only encountered just once at that was several years ago in Norfolk.

I was joined by this adult Herring Gull this morning while checking the Moth Box!

The moths present this morning included the following:

Macro moths:

• Willow Beauty x9
• Marbled Minor x2
• Small Dusty Wave x1
• White Ermine x2
• Garden Carpet x4
• Riband Wave x15
• Straw Dot x1
• MILLER x1
• Double-striped Pug x5
• Lime-speck Pug x1
• Heart & Dart x1
• L-album Wainscot x2
• Snout x1 *
• Common Emerald x4
• Dark Arches x3
• Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x1
• Bright-line Brown-eye x3
• Elephant Hawk-moth x1

Micro moths:

• Ruddy Streak x1
• Common Plume x10
• Large Pale Masoner x4
• Box Tree Moth x8
• Garden Grass-veneer x3
• Privet Tortrix x1
• Brown House Moth x1
• Meal Moth x1
• Blushed Knot-horn x5
• Light Brown Apple Moth x3
• Bird-cherry Ermine x3
• Brown Bark Moth x2
• Bee Moth x1
• Rusty-dot Pearl x1
• White-shouldered House Moth x1
• Gold Triangle x1

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Thirteen bird species were noted on my first shift in Pembroke Road this morning that included up to four species of Gull: Herring, Great Black-backed, Black-headed and a Med Gull; the latter two species were on Governor’s Green where there were 7 Black-headed Gulls and a lone Med Gull searching for food on the recently cut grass. Just three Pied Wagtails were on the Bowling Green this morning and just a pair of Swifts were seen overhead.

A few butterflies were on the wing this morning that included a Red Admiral flying around and a Large White in Pembroke Close. There were a few moths flying around too, but none would settle near me. Hurrumph!