Another very warm day with plenty to look at.

Wednesday 25th February 2026.

A bright and sunny day over Old Portsmouth.

Today was a near repeat of yesterday with temperatures nearly up to 16 degrees with a light southerly wind and again, near wall to wall sunshine! The warm weather has most certainly brought out the butterflies and the small birds are chasing one another as part of their mating rituals. There were a plethora of sightings today from all sorts of nature, which kept me entertained throughout the day and right up till dusk!

My Moth Box:

I was rewarded with two moths this morning that included (above) Duirnea fagella and (below) Double-striped Pug.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to get my Moth Box out of the attic and after giving it a good clean (damn spider webs!), I set it up with the white sheet behind, hoping for my first Moths of the year. I was in luck this morning as I managed to get two Moths: a Double-striped Pug and the micro moth, Duirnea fagella (or its vernacular name, Early Reveller) along with a few small flies. I was very pleased with getting any this early in the year and so I shall have the Moth Box on again tonight.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Some of the flowers that attracted an Early Bumblebee yesterday. Hopefully, they will bring in a lot more insects.

I managed to grab 14 bird species which were either seen or heard today. The bright sunshine encouraged the local passerines to sing, which included both Dunnock and Wren which both showed well this morning. In fact, all of the birds were seen this morning due to the fact that it was so bright from where I stood this afternoon, I hardly noticed any birds at all during my second shift.

Of interest, probably the bird of the day here in Old Portsmouth, was a lone Long-tailed Tit. It was first heard opposite where I stood then seen flying up into one of the Sycamore trees, calling loudly. I got the impression that it had lost its friends and was calling out to be heard by its fellow species? Most of the bird species were seen when I virtually arrived and that included several small flocks of Brent Geese flying eastbound over Governor’s Green. I expect them to be on the move shortly back to their breeding grounds. Roughly 50 birds were seen on Southsea Common within the fenced off area as I drove by on the way home.

Between my shifts, I saw my first Peacock butterfly of the year, which literally passed my head over around the Eastney area. Birding pal, Matt Parkes, had a couple of Brimstone butterflies at his worksite today.

My Garden:

Early this morning, while walking the dogs, I was nearing my house when I heard the distinctive call of Mediterranean Gulls overhead. Looking up, I counted at least 29 birds all flying southbound towards the seafront. The female Black Redstart was seen singing in the tall tree at the back of my garden and close by, one of the male Blackcaps was in full song, but was only seen briefly flying from the Bay tree to the Holly tree.

This afternoon, I was trimming back the Ivy from one of the fence panels and noticed at least three Hoverflies zipping around the garden. I didn't have my camera to hand and so their identity will remain unknown. Though I never saw them, both Grey and Pied Wagtail flew over my house, which I identified by their call.

While switching my Moth Box this evening, my first Pipistrelle Bat of the year was flying up and down the gardens and showed so well, but it was very hard to get film footage of the Bat using my mobile! There is the possibility that it could have been a Soprano Bat, which are nearly identical from one another and only really told apart by their calls. I might be tempted to get a Bat detector!

The probable Pipistrelle Bat over my garden early evening.

In Hampshire today:

The Black-throated Diver off Black Point, Hayling Island, today. Photo by Steve Laycock.

A good variety of birds were seen in Hampshire today with a Black-throated Diver seen off Black Point, Hayling Island and a pair of Bramblings seen by the Woodland Hide at Blashford Lakes. Up to four White-tailed Eagles were seen in the air over Acres Down from the viewpoint along with a Goshawk. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was seen ‘drumming’ again on its usual tree there. The 6 Glossy Ibis were still present on the Bridge Street Floods along with the adult winter Little Gull and nearby, the Ruddy Shelduck was found again, this time with 6 Egyptian Geese by Ranvilles Lane. A drake Ring-necked Duck was found on Fleet Pond this afternoon and to round things off, an amazing count of 2,136 Mediterranean Gulls were counted leaving their roost at Hayling Oyster Beds!