September begins with another 'year-tick'.

Monday 1st September 2025.

This Old Lady moth was present last night and still present this morning.

I had the Moth Box on overnight, knowing that rain was expected some time throughout the night, but with a rainguard to my Moth Box, I have every faith that when I check the Moths this morning, I should get a few goodies among them. Last night, before I headed off to bed, there was an Old Lady moth and also a Bloxworth Snout, but only the former was still present this morning. It had obviously rained heavily in the night as the garden was sodden and literally seconds after checking the Box this morning, the rain came again! A southerly wind blew over Southsea and some dark menacing clouds drifted over, but thankfully, it was dry when I walked the dogs.

My Moth Box:

One of two Golden Twin-spot moths today.

The Old Lady moth was still present this morning, perched on the white sheet, though it did fly off after I finished checking the Moth Box. Immigrant moths present included TWO Golden Twin-spots, 2 Lesser Yellow Underwing and 5 Rusty-dot Pearls. A new moth for my year list was a micro moth, the Dark-spotted Moss-moth (Bryotropha basaltinella), which are normally annual for this time of year. The only other insects within the Box were a few Leafhoppers.

Above, one of two Lesser Yellow Underwings and below, my first Dark-spotted Moss-moth of the year.

The Moths recorded this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Old Lady x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x5
Double-striped Pug x1	Chevron Grass-moth x1
Golden Twin-spot x2	Beautiful Plume x2
Willow Beauty x1	Common Plume x2
L-album Wainscot x6	Box Tree Moth x1
Vine’s Rustic x2	Ruddy Streak x2
Square-spot Rustic x1	Dark-spotted Moss-moth x1
Lesser Yellow Underwing x2
Large Yellow Underwing x1

Other than the Moths, both Yellow Wagtail and a Greenfinch were heard flying overhead.