Few Moths again in my garden and another glorious day.

Thursday 19th March 2026.

Yet another glorious day here in Southsea with wall to wall blue sky overhead and a light easterly wind throughout the day. This afternoon, it actually got up to 18 degrees (according to my car thermometer) and there is more of the same for the rest of the week (if you believe the weather forecasters!). The Moth Box went on again last night, even though it was a clear evening and quite cool overnight.

My Moth Box:

Beautiful Plume.

As expected, there was a very low turn out of Moths in and around the Moth Box with just three in total: two Common Plumes and a Beautiful Plume. Fingers crossed, this glorious weather just might produce a few more ‘macro’ moths to the garden.

One of two Common Plume moths this morning.

While checking the Moth Box and after talking about the lack of Finches at Pembroke Road yesterday on my blog, a Siskin, Greenfinch and a Linnet all flew over my garden! Just goes to show, you just never know what can appear next. With the warm weather, I was somewhat surprised to see no Raptors overhead today, which was a bit disappointing and I am still waiting for my first Hirundine to fly over.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

A total of 14 bird species were recorded today here at Pembroke Road and yet again, it was all the usual species, but hey, I am not complaining. Fourteen species is still a good total for this area of Portsmouth and quite a few of the birds entertained and this included my first sighting of a Jay this week that flew in and landed in the trees opposite from where I stood.

Both the Wren and Dunnock sang their hearts out and showed very well and the Blue Tit clan here were busy chasing one another in the Holm Oaks. Sadly, no butterflies were seen today, but there were plenty of Bees and Hoverflies on the wing that included a few Batman Hoverflies.

In Hampshire today:

This Little Owl was seen at Easton. Photo by Andy Tew.

Kicking off with Hayling Oyster Beds, up to four Slavonian Grebes were seen offshore and included a summer plumaged bird. Nearby, the drake Scaup was still present. A White-tailed Eagle flew over Fareham this morning and on Blashford Lakes, 2 Ruff (which increased to 6 birds in the afternoon) and a Little Ringed Plover were on the Ibsley Water area as well as the female Red-crested Pochard. Testwood Lakes held up to 5 Little Ringed Plovers and a Sand Martin.