Thursday 13th November 2025
A much brighter start to the day with a very light southerly wind again and temperatures around 14 degrees centigrade. As I had such a good turn out of moths yesterday, I decided to put the Moth Box again overnight and was rewarded with a good haul of Moths to examine. It was back to Pembroke Road again this morning where the weather was good and double figures of bird species were obtained.
My Moth Box:
Good to see a Blair's Mocha in November. I don't often trap so late in the year, but as it has been so mild, there has been a remarkable increase in Moth numbers.
A very good total for this time of year and again, most likely due to the very mild weather of late, with 29 moths of 10 species present and one interesting moth that flew off before I could get a photo of it, but looked good for a Cypress Carpet. The Blair’s Mocha and Turnip Moth were the first of the month. Micro moths dominated again with 11 Rusty-dot Pearls and 9 Light Brown Apple Moths making up the bulk of the total.
Above, my first Turnip Moth of the month and below, yet another Golden Twin-spot in my Box.
The Moths present this morning included the following:
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
The weather remained bright though overcast this morning on my first shift, but on my second shift, clouds had totally rolled in and the threat of rain was imminent. There was hardly any wind this morning, but at least it was dry. A good total of 17 species were recorded today from both shifts of which the pick of the bunch included a male Sparrowhawk this afternoon, which flew low over the road and headed off northbound. A Song Thrush is always a good record here and a Grey Wagtail put in a very brief appearance as it called just once and I watched it fly off high west. Yet again, the Jays were showing very well throughout the morning and afternoon, though they did have a squabble with the Carrion Crows this afternoon!
Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:
This 'Herring Bone' cloud rolled in as I was leaving the Cemetery. Still nice to look at though and not a drop of wind present.
Once I had done one of my chores around midday, I got back and took the dogs out for an early afternoon walk around my local patch. It was still quite bright and sunny overhead, but ‘herring-bone’ cloud slowly drifted in from the south and I was to be disappointed to find one of the Council Workers on a very noisy Grass-cutter mowing away in the centre of the Cemetery by the Mausoleum. Thankfully, after ten minutes or so, he stopped to have his lunch and all was nice and quiet.
Above, this Jay showed very well up in one of the trees by the main footpath.
As soon as he stopped, I could easily pick up bird calls overhead as a Goldfinch flew over and landed on top of one of the tall Lime trees. A male Greenfinch landed in another tall tree, but too quick for me to grab a photo. I was much luckier when it came to the Jays as I caught one high up in one of the trees as it pecked away at an acorn for a few minutes (see photos). A few Great and Blue Tits were around, though they liked to remain secretive within the bushes. A gathering of at least 6 Blackbirds were around the bushes and a Song Thrush were amongst them, but again, too quick to grab a photo.
This immature Blackbird, mostly likely an immigrant bird, searching for food under the leaves along the footpath and below, most of the deciduous trees here are losing their leaves.
Above, this Cedar tree normally proves attracted to Goldcrests, but none were in there today. Below, an adult Blackbird was one of several around the central area of the Cemy.
No Woodpeckers and Sparrowhawks were seen during my hour here, but plenty of all the usual birds seen or heard. Even the Robins proved elusive today, though several were in song. It was nice to bump into a lady admiring how beautiful the Cemetery was looking. She even asked me what my Blog was called and wrote it down on her Mobile phone. I hope I don't disappoint her! She had seen the Green Woodpecker a few times here over the past few days, which is good news. I really had thought that the local Sparrowhawk had taken it.
Above, a lot of the footpaths were strewn with leaves, making it very Autumnal indeed. Below, I could not resist a photo of the distant moon over in the west.
Above, a few Ivy Bees were still nectaring on the Ivy plants and below, I took this photo of a juvenile Wood Pigeon perched up on a Chimney Pot on one of the nearby houses.
Above, just the one Goldfinch seen today within the Cemy and below, Smooth Sow-thistle plants were still abundant around the graves.
There were a few insects on the wing that included the likes of Marmalade Hoverflies, Ivy Bees and I even saw just one butterfly, a Red Admiral. The only plants I could find that were still in flower were the Smooth Sow-thistle and Yarrows.
The 'Herring bone' cloud formulation was spectacular over the Cemy.
In Hampshire today:
This superb photo of a Marsh Harrier was over Titchfield Haven today. Photo by Andy Tew.
Sadly, there was no sign whatsoever today of yesterday’s Penduline Tits, but the Great Grey Shrike was still present in the same place as Saturday and busy feeding on the Dragonflies there. Up to 6 Glossy Ibis were present at Titchfield Haven and a pair of Goosanders on the South Scrape. On Blashford Lakes today, a Black-necked Grebe was back on Ibsley Water.
On the rarity front, a female Pine Bunting had been found in a quarry at St. Aldhelms Head in Dorset. These are incredibly rare birds in the UK and will obviously cause a bit of a stir for all those ‘twitchers’ out there. I remember spending all day at Choseley Drying Barns in North Norfolk waiting for a bird to show itself after spending the previous couple of days there and ‘dipped’, many years ago. A male bird too! Also in Dorset, a drake Baikal Teal was still present at Abbotsbury Swannery, a species I also ‘dipped’ on a few years ago with Matt & Emma Parkes in Somerset.
Definitely not a disappointment! Really enjoying the photos and your comments about all the wildlife we are lucky enough to have in Portsmouth. Pleased to read of a song thrush being present.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to more posts.