Bumper crop of Moths & a dog walk with Margot.

Thursday 24th July 2025

A clear, bright start to the morning here in Southsea with a light northerly wind, but as the day wore on then the cloud rolled in and there were only a few occasional sunny spells. The Moth Box was on last night and another bumper morning with over a hundred moths present. Late this morning, I had to take my daughter's dog Margot out for a walk over at Forty Acres in Bedhampton and so took her around the scrubby area to the south of where she lived.

My Moth Box:

Up close and personal with a Pale Mottled Willow moth.

A very good count of 108 moths of 42 species this morning that included yet another three more species for the year. Finally, my first Dusky Thorn turned up in my garden this morning and was joined by two Canary-shouldered Moths. An amazing total of FOUR Golden Twin-spot moths were found in and around my Moth Box and at last, my first Tree-lichen Beauty of the year was found on the brick holding my rainguard down. My second Blair’s Mocha was in one of the outside trays and probably yesterday’s Satin Wave was near the Box. Of the micros, new for the year was the Ribwort Stilt moth (Aspilapteryx tringipennella) and nearly two thirds of the Moths present this morning were made up of Common Plume and Light Brown Apple Moths.

Above, everyone else was getting them bar myself, so this Tree-lichen Beauty this morning was a very welcome moth. Below, the four Golden Twin-spots.

Above, only my second ever Ribwort Stilt moth and below, a Rufous Pearl.

Immigrant Moths this morning included 4 Diamond-back Moth, Rufous Pearl, 3 Rusty-dot Pearl, 3 Silver Y, a Four-spotted Footman, 2 Jersey Tigers and the already mentioned Golden Twin-spots.

Above, I finally get my Dusky Thorn and below, a superb Blair's Mocha.

Above, a closer look at the Golden Twin-spot moth.

The Moths recorded this morning were as follows:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Golden Twin-spot x4	Diamond-back Moth x4
Silver Y x3	Beautiful Plume x1
Jersey Tiger x2	Common Plume x15
Dusky Thorn x1 *	Light Brown Apple Moth x14
Tree-lichen Beauty x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x3
Canary-shouldered Thorn x2	Common Masoner x3
Satin Wave x1	Rufous Pearl x1
Double-striped Pug	Ribwort Stilt x1 *
Lime-speck Pug	Brown House Moth x1
Common Pug x1	Garden Grey x1
Lackey x1	Barred Yellowneck x1
Blair’s Mocha x1	White-shouldered House Moth x2
Bright-line Bright-eye x2	Bird-cherry Ermine x2
Brimstone Moth x2
Large Yellow Underwing x1
Shuttle-shaped Dart x5
Dark Arches x1
Four-spotted Footman x1
Knot Grass x1
Pale Mottled Willow x1
Common Rustic x4
Cabbage Moth x1
Marbled Beauty x2
Willow Beauty x3
Grey / Dark Dagger x2
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x1
Dun-bar x1

While I was checking the Moths, I heard the distinctive call of Crossbills overhead and although I never managed a glimpse of them (very hard against a blue sky), at least two birds were heard heading west.

Matt & Emma's Moth Box:

The new Moths attracted to their Moth Box overnight included the following: Ox-tongue Conch, Oak Nycteoline, a probable Turnip Moth plus 2 Tree-lichen Beauty and an Oak Hook-tip.

Forty Acres, Bedhampton:

Some say that this is just a wasteland, but it was full of wild flowers and various insects. In the coming Autumn, I reckon it will be full of migrant birds. Looking forward to it. 

Around 11.30am, I took my daughter's dog Margot out for a lengthy walk around the pastures to the south of the new estate. As always, I kept an eye out for anything of note and noticed how scrubby it was looking now with a lot of plants going to seed which included Mallow, Smooth Sow-thistle, Creeping Thistle, Teasel, Tufted Vetch and Common Fleabane.

Above, Tufted Vetch and below, Teasel. 

While walking her through the footpaths with all these plants growing alongside, we flushed up a few butterflies and moths that included Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Small White with at least two, possibly three Rush Veneer moths seen.

Above, Creeping Thistle and below, another view of the area we walked around this morning.

Not an awful lot regarding any birdlife, but a Meadow Pipit flew overhead and a Willowchiff was calling near the railway line. Both Linnet and Goldfinch were heard, but not seen. This location looks good for a good walk around in the coming Autumn and is probably very under-watched. I just might have to put this area on my map in future.