Finally, a new moth for the year list.

Tuesday 9th September 2025.

Dawn over Highland Road Cemetery this morning. I took this stunning photo this morning when I was walking my dogs.

I believe it was dry overnight and this morning, the cloudless sky eventually gave way to some rather heavy dark grey clouds and then it rained heavily when I made my way to Pembroke Road. Moth numbers are getting a lot lower than this time last month, but the variety was good and at last, my first new moth for the year eventually arrived. It was around 15 degrees early this morning with hardly any wind whatsoever, however, there was no visible migration going on overhead while I was checking my Moth Box. Hurrumph!

My Moth Box:

My first Cypress Pug of the year.

At last, a new moth for the year list finally arrived in the form of a Cypress Pug. These are annual to my garden around this time of year and a most welcome addition to my year list. A good supporting cast of my first Dark Spectacle and Canary-shouldered Thorn for the month and the same Golden Twin-spot was still present on the white sheet for its third day!

Dark Spectacle. I have seen several of these this year, but still no actual Spectacle moths.

Other immigrant moths included 3 Rusty-dot Pearl and a Rush Veneer. It is always nice to have an Old Lady in the garden, with this one trying to hide under some garden utensils. 

Canary-shouldered Thorn.

The moths recorded this morning in my garden were as follows:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Old Lady x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x3
Dark Spectacle x1	Common Plume 1
Canary-shouldered Thorn x1	Chevron Grass-moth x1
Golden Twin-spot x1	Rush Veneer x1
L-album Wainscot x4	White-shouldered House Moth x1
Garden Carpet x2	Box Tree Moth x2
Large Yellow Underwing x2
Lesser Yellow Underwing x1
Small Dusty Wave x2
Square-spot Rustic x1
Cypress Pug* x1
Double-striped Pug x1

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

A Six-spotted Ladybird with Aphids on the menu. This was on one of the Bushes in Pembroke Road.

The rain had stopped when I arrived at Pembroke Road early this morning and though there was an odd light shower, it was mostly bright and sunny. I got there a bit later than yesterday and so I didn't take a look around the Curtain Moat. Sadly, there were not a lot of birds around and I could only manage up to 9 species of birds during the hour I was there. Still no real visible migration over Old Portsmouth just yet, but it will not be long before we see the likes of Finches and Pipit coming over. Lets hope.

This afternoon, my second shift today produced two more bird species for the day: a Black-headed Gull and a Great Tit, but I did also hear a Grey Wagtail flying over but eluded me in getting a sighting. Twelve species for the day. The Bushes where I stand held the usual Garden Spiders but within the leafy vegetation, there were several Six-spotted Ladybirds feasting on the Aphids. Not a single butterfly was seen here today, which was somewhat disappointing.

In Hampshire today:

Titchfield Haven hosted a nice range of birds that included 3 Curlew Sandpiper, 3 Ruff, a Common Sandpiper and a Glossy Ibis. Up to 5 Little Stints were now on Farlington Marshes along with the elusive Wood Sandpiper and a Ruff, all along the Stream area. Another Glossy Ibis was seen at Hayling Oysterbeds early this morning and was then seen to fly off towards Farlington Marshes.