Wednesday 18th June 2025.
My first Eyed Hawk-moth of the year.
As promised, it was another very warm day with temperatures getting into the 70’s and hardly a cloud in the sky. Another good moth haul this morning and more moths to add to my year list. Pembroke Road, in Old Portsmouth, was busy as usual around my first and second shift there and I suppose the most unusual sighting was of a Great Spotted Woodpecker perching on the weather vane of the Royal Garrison Church!
The Moth Box:
My first ever Dark Spruce Knot-horn.
A total of 73 moths of 36 species were recorded this morning and not only did I get two ‘Lifer’ micro moths: BANDED HONEYSUCKLE LEAF MINER (Phyllonorycter trifasciella) and a DARK SPRUCE KNOT-HORN (Assara terebrella), but also my first Eyed Hawk-moth for the year. Other moths new for the year included a Box Tree Moth, Hawthorn Moth, Hedge Hook-wing and a Rufous Pearl. It looks as though another night for the Moth Box coming up tonight and probably the rest of the week, though I do not like getting up before 5am every morning!
Above, a Hedge Hook-wing and below, the infamous Box Tree Moth.
Two more moths new for the year included above, a Hawthorn Moth and below, a Rufous Pearl.
The Moth Box also attracted a couple of Summer Chafer beetles too, of which I quickly released.
The moths present this morning included the following total:
Macro moths:
- Cabbage Moth x1
- Eyed Hawk-moth x1
- Dark Arches x6
- Common Pug x1
- Green Pug x1
- Heart & Dart x1
- White Ermine x4
- Buff Ermine x1
- Uncertain x1
- Garden Carpet x1
- Marbled Minor x2
- Willow Beauty x7
- Riband Wave x3
- Brimstone Moth x1
- Lackey x2
- Angle Shades x1
Micro moths:
- Brown House Moth x2
- Ruddy Streak x3
- Box Tree Moth x1
- Barred Marble x1
- Bronze Alder Moth x1
- BANDED HONEYSUCKLE LEAF MINER x1
- White-shouldered House Moth x1
- Blushed Knot-horn x4
- Narrow-winged Grey x1
- Hawthorn Moth x1
- Hedge Hook-wing x1
- DARK SPRUCE KNOT-HORN x1
- Green Oak Tortrix x1
- Rufous Pearl x1
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
One of the pathways that leads from Pembroke Road to Curtain Moat. Note the wild flowers growing along the fringes, which attracts a lot of insects, which in turn attracts the birds.
I managed to notch up 16 species today in Old Portsmouth over the two shifts there and as mentioned, the surprise sighting was of the Great Spotted Woodpecker on the Church Weather vane! Up to 5 Pied Wagtails were on the Bowling Green again and another pair on Governor’s Green. The fledgling Blue Tits were making a lot of noise within the Holm Oaks, though hopefully not attracting too much attention to the local Jays! All the usual Gulls were seen today, though no Mediterranean Gulls which was disappointing.
The insect life was a little sparse with just one Harlequin Ladybird seen on the ‘Lime and Lemon’ Bushes and a Parasitic Wasp species was making sorties over the plants this morning and the afternoon.
Earlier this morning, when I walked the dogs, I took some photos of the fledgling Herring Gulls on the roof of a house within our street here in Southsea. This will become a common sight from now on over the coming months and the continuous noise of their begging calls too.
I photographed this family of Herring Gulls down my road whilst walking the dogs early this morning.
In Hampshire today, a couple of Common Sandpipers were seen early morning on Farlington Marshes and the Tree Pipits were again seen on Martin Down and most likely the two we saw last Saturday. An Osprey was seen over Fawley early this afternoon and chased by a couple of Oystercatchers! Over in West Sussex, another 'Yank' wader was on the Stilt Pool, a Lesser Yellowlegs at Medmerry RSPB Reserve following the well-watched Least Sandpiper earlier this year and fellow birder Andy Scarborough kindly allowed me to put his film footage of the bird on my blog.
The Lesser Yellowlegs on the Stilt Pool. Film footage by Andy Scarborough.
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