Friday 4th July 2025.
This was my first ever Plain Pug. Some Pug species really do look like others, but there are subtle differences if you know where to look.
Again, it was a cool start to the morning with the temperature under a clear blue sky being around 12 degrees, though I believe it is supposed to be getting a lot warmer today. It was back to the Moth Box again this morning for yet another early start; but my ‘body clock’ is getting me up around half an hour before the 5am alarm goes off!
My second Dwarf Cream Wave this week.
Yet another 100+ Moth morning with a final count of 118 moths of 46 species, which, incidentally, is damn good for a small garden like mine. I have been reading on various Facebook Moth sites about the many hundreds fellow ‘Moth-ers’ are getting, so I am more than happy with my total of late with an average of 104 species over the past five days. This morning, I was rewarded with my first ever Plain Pug that was within my Moth Box on one of the egg trays. Strangely, no other Moths were new for the year, but, again, some excellent moths among the many that included another Plumed Fan-foot, Least Carpet, Yesterday's Bird’s Wing, an Elephant Hawk-moth and a V-Pug.
Plumed Fan-foot moth.
Numbers were boosted by 14 Bird-cherry Ermine and 13 Riband Waves and one micro will have to be analysed later today to see if I can get an ID. Apart from Lacewings, the only other notable insects by the Moth Box was a Harlequin Ladybird.
The Moths recorded this morning included the following:
Macro Moths: Micro Moths:
Plumed Fan-foot x1 Garden Grass-veneer x9
Common Rustic x3 Large Pale Masoner x4
Dwarf Cream Wave x1 Tawny Grey x1
Single-dotted Wave x1 Bird-cherry Ermine x14
Riband Wave x13 Ruddy Streak x1
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x2
Pale Mottled Willow x1 Netted Tortrix x1
Knot Grass x1 Rusty-dot Pearl x4
White Ermine x2 Epermenia sp. x1
PLAIN PUG x1 Black-banded Masoner x2
Lime-speck Pug x4 Willow Ermine x1
Double-striped Pug x3 Box Tree Moth x1
Willow Beauty x5 Brown House Moth x1
L- Wainscot x1 Common Plume x6
Common Emerald x1 Pale-backed Detritus Moth x1
Least Carpet x1 Satin Grass-moth x1
Common Footman x1 Barred Marble x1
Lackey x7 Meal Moth x1
Elephant Hawk-moth x1
Nut-tree Tussock x1
Bright-line Brown-eye x6
Bird’s Wing x1
Grey / Dark Dagger x1
Large Yellow Underwing x3
August Thorn x1
Heart & Dart x1
Uncertain x1
V-Pug x1
Dark Arches x2
Matt & Emma’s Moth Box:
Above, Nutmeg moth and below, a Plain Wave moth.
Above, Small Fan-footed Wave moth and below, a Dusky Thorn moth.
Having giving turning on their Moth Box on Wednesday night a miss due to the Wasps taking out their Moths, they turned it on last night and were rewarded with another nice array of moths that included the following:
Macro Moths: Micro Moths:
Willow Beauty Brown House Moth
Large Yellow Underwing Little Conch
Buff Ermine Ash-bark Knot-horn
Dusky Thorn Bird-cherry Ermine
Riband Wave Privet Tortrix
Small Fan-footed Wave Long-horned Flat-body
Dotted Footman Light Brown Apple Moth
Common Footman Rosy Tabby
Dingy Footman White-banded Grass-moth
Haworth’s Pug
Plain Wave
Heart & Dart
Single-dotted Wave
Blood-vein
Nutmeg
Swallow-tailed Moth
September Thorn
There were some notable sightings today when I was driving around Southsea and Eastney. The temperature did rise and the day was warm and sunny with a pleasant 21 degrees centigrade with a south-westerly wind. It was when I was in my garden late morning that a calling Gull high up in the blue sky was giving off its distress call and sure enough, a large raptor was flying overhead. It was very high up and so I grabbed my camera and took several photos of the bird as it circled with the Gull in pursuit.
Above, this is what I saw at first. A largish raptor soaring very high and being chased by a Gull. But after consulting with Emma Parkes and then playing with the photos on my Laptop, (below) it turned out to be a Marsh Harrier very high over my garden.
I have to be honest, I thought it possibly was a Honey Buzzard, judging by the wing shape, but after I sent fellow birder Emma Parkes a photo, she suggested it was a Marsh Harrier and after playing around on my Laptop by sharpening and lighting the photo, I totally agreed. Nonetheless, what an excellent ‘Garden Tick’. The moral of this story is always get a second opinion. At least it wasn’t a Roe Deer (sorry Em!).
Other sightings today included another raptor, a Sparrowhawk. One was seen flying low over the rooftops over Henderson Road, Eastney and a second bird was seen over Albert Road and being chased by Swifts! Back over in Eastney, two Sand Martins were seen flying south low over the houses and possibly making their way back to Africa? Back to Moths, I found a Least Carpet moth by someone's house early this afternoon, perched nicely on a white-washed wall.
Above and below, the Lesser Yellowlegs on Fishtail Lagoon today. Photos by Andy Tew.
The Lesser Yellowlegs was again present on Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marshes today along with a Greenshank and a couple of Little Ringed Plovers. I remember seeing the individual in January here and so I do not have to make the long drive to go and see the bird to add to my year list.
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