Its a Rustic morning!

Tuesday 2nd September 2025.

Flounced Rustic was one of four species of Rustic moths this morning.

It looks as though it is going to be a very wet week, with overnight showers and more rain today, but it didn't dampen the number of moths still arriving in and around my Moth Trap this morning. Even as early as 8.30pm last night, there was a Square-spot Rustic on the white sheet, even before I had put the light on! A Pipistrelle Bat flew over the garden and headed off south over the other gardens and a final check of the Moth Box before retiring to bed, a Lesser Yellow Underwing was now on the white sheet along with a Beautiful Plume.

My Moth Box:

Clancy's Rustic.

It was a ‘Rustic’ morning when it came to the moths present, with four species present that included three typical Autumn species, Flounced, Clancy’s and Square-spot Rustics. The Old Lady was back again and judging by the torn wings of this individual, I think it was the same one from Sunday morning. There was no sign of last night's Lesser Yellow Underwing, but a single Golden Twin-spot was present resting by the light bulb. The first Common Grass-moth to my garden for quite a while was resting on my outside kitchen wall.

 

Above, the Common Grass-moth & below, a Golden Twin-spot moth.

The Moths recorded this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Flounced Rustic x1	Chevron Grass-moth x1
Double-striped Pug x5	Common Grass-moth x1
Lime-speck Pug x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x3
Old Lady x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x3
L-album Wainscot x5	Beautiful Plume x1
Clancy’s Rustic x1	Common Plume x2
Square-spot Rustic x3	Barred Marble x1
Vine’s Rustic x5	Ruddy Streak x2
Garden Carpet x3	Box Tree Moth x1
Golden Twin-spot x1
Shuttle-shaped Dart x1
Large Yellow Underwing x3
Setaceous Hebrew Character x2
Bright-line Brown-eye x2
Willow Beauty x2
Yellow-barred Brindle x2

Sadly, nothing really of note flew overhead, except for a few Starlings and of course, the very noisy Herring Gulls! Over on the Hayling Oysterbeds, a Grey Phalarope was found by Hayling birder, Gary Fennemore. Well done that man. Another Grey Phalarope is now on the South Scrape on Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve. These heavy showers and windy conditions are starting to turn up some interesting birds. Hopefully, I can get out this afternoon and find something myself.

The Grey Phalarope on Hayling Oysterbeds this morning. Photos by Chris Geary.

Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:

There were plenty of dark clouds around and occasionally some sunshine during my walk around the Cemetery.

Between the rain showers, I took my dogs for a late afternoon walk around my ‘local patch’ and though the Cemy closed at 7pm, I had roughly an hour to see what I could find. Unfortunately, there was a lot of human activity going on, especially with kids riding their bikes and a scooter, which are both prohibited here. I came across a lot of dog-walkers too, but who could blame them for walking the dogs while it was dry?

Above, one of the Blue Tits seen from the flock I found over in the south-east corner. Below, this Dark Mullein plant was growing by one of the graves. I don't think I have ever seen this plant growing here.

Above, I found just the one Ox-eye Daisy growing in the Cemy and below, I nicknamed these Silver Birches the 'Flycatcher' trees. I normally see one or two here in Autumn, but none so far this year.

Birdlife here was minimal with only one Chiffchaff seen and a flock of Blue / Great Tits seen throughout my trip here; it really was that quiet. I just saw one insect, a Buff-tailed Bumblebee and a few flowers were noted along the way including, which was a big surprise, a Dark Mullein plant growing near a graveside.

Above, it is looking quite Autumnal in the Cemy and below, a few Knapweed were growing still.

Of course, on the way back home the drizzly rain eventually came, but we didnt get too wet. Still, a nice end to the day. Up to three Grey Phalaropes were reported today: Keyhaven Marshes, Titchfield Haven and Hayling Oysterbeds and some excellent photos of the birds too.

A couple of superb photos of some recent birds in our area. Above, a Spotted Flycatcher and below, a Wryneck, which was photographed last week over at Hayling Oysterbeds. Both photos by Graeme Loader.