Meadow Pipits are on the move overhead.

Tuesday 16th September 2025.

Within my garden, Drone Flies were abundant today on the Ivy plants.

The stormy weather over the past few days has somewhat relented here on the south coast and I am hoping to have my Moth Box on overnight once more; the strong winds and heavy rain put paid to putting the Moth Box on. The very strong winds of yesterday were rather problematic for me yesterday in Pembroke Road and literally standing up at times was proving difficult in the very strong winds. The consistent rain didn't help matters either, but this morning, it was a lot better, although it was somewhat cold.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

I found this Common Carder Bumblebee crawling on the floor yesterday over in Eastney.

As mentioned, yesterday was extremely windy and wet at times and I only saw 12 bird species during both my shifts there. On a positive note, a cracking male Peregrine kicked the first shift off very nicely as it flew low over the road and then Governor’s Green and headed off towards Portsmouth Harbour to the west. A pair of Pied Wagtails were on the Bowling Green in the morning and a few Meadow Pipits went high overhead, heading southbound.

The tiny flowers of the Ivy plants are now in bloom and should attract a wealth of insects.

This morning, I heard a few Meadow Pipits going over Pembroke Road, but I only saw one bird that was heading west. Just 9 bird species were recorded this morning that included a pair of Pied Wagtails again on the Bowling Green and apart from all the usual birds, nothing else unusual was seen this morning.

Above, the Grey Phalarope that graced Hayling Oysterbeds recently. Photo by Emma Parkes. Below, a Meadow Pipit feeding a juvenile Cuckoo in the New Forest during the summer. Photo by Pete Appleton.

Meanwhile, late this morning while tidying up all the fallen leaves in my garden, I noticed a lot more Drone Flies and Common Wasps enjoying nectaring on the flowering Ivy. Though my wife doesn't like it, I purposely leave the Ivy alone to flower and in turn, it attracts numerous Bees, Hoverflies and Butterflies around this time and into late Autumn. Yesterday, a Red Admiral butterfly enjoyed the Ivy flowers and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth was a nice surprise, as it went in search of flowers to nectar on. It spent a good couple of minutes in my garden (no camera to hand though!) before flying off at speed over the garden and gone.

Above, a close up of one of the Drone Flies in my garden.

In Hampshire today:

This morning, a Wood Sandpiper was on Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marshes and nearby Normandy Marshes, a Little Stint and a Spotted Redshank were present. An Osprey was reported circling over Gosport.