Big passage of birds through the Solent and my first garden Orange-tip butterfly.

 Thursday 30th April 2026.

Though it was wall to wall blue sky again today, there was a blustery easterly wind all day that kept the temperature hovering around 17 degrees. As expected, there was a good seabird passage through the Solent and the usual observers filled their boots with some exciting birds passing through. Tomorrow looks good too with a south-easterly wind. Shame I have to work tomorrow, but Saturday isn't looking good with a weather front coming in.

The Moth Box was on again overnight, but it nearly was a total waste of time. Even Pembroke Road was quiet this morning, but a few more species were added on my afternoon shift.

My Moth Box:

This Bright-line Bright-eye was my first of the year.

The Box was on again overnight, but it was nearly a total waste of time with just two Moths! At least one was new for the year, a Bright-line Brown-eye that was on the bottom egg tray within the Moth Box. A Ruddy Streak was sitting on the white sheet, but the strong wind and clear cloudless nights of late hasn't helped at all with Moth numbers. Maybe Friday night / Saturday morning could be more fruitful? This date last year, there were 40 Moths of 14 species!

That bloody wind was so blustery today that it actually blew my Moth Box over TWICE today. Fume!

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Despite the glorious, but windy weather, I only saw just the 10 species this morning on my first shift and that included a pair of Pied Wagtails on the Bowling Green, but just the usual suspects so far. This afternoon, a gorgeous pair of adult Mediterranean Gulls flew over Governor’s Green and flew that low, I actually thought they were going to land at one stage. However, they circled  overhead close by and then flew off heading east. A Black-headed Gull also went over and even the House Sparrows started to chirp up from the Bowling Green hedge. 

In Hampshire today:

Sadly, not in Hampshire but this gorgeous Bluethroat was at Swineham Gravel Pits, Dorset recently. Photo by Pete Appleton.

Though there were not many reports on Going Birding today, I had the luxury of my two Whatsapp Apps telling me about the seabirds and other goodies in Hampshire today. The Solent was very busy with at least two big flocks of Pomarine Skua’s passing through Cut Bridge today (one flock this morning and another late this afternoon) and a Great Skua seen circling high over the Solent from Lee-on-Solent (Gilkicker). A distant Storm Petrel was also seen flying through as well! Incredible stuff. Also, there was a strong passage of Bar-tailed Godwits passing through (134 in total in various sized flocks) and 15 Whimbrel going past. A distant flock of 4 Black Terns were also seen.

Spotted Flycatcher in the New Forest. Photo by Pete Appleton.

Away from the Solent, a staggering flock of SIX Wood Sandpipers were found on the Bridge Street Floods this afternoon after 5 were there this morning. While I was in the bathroom very early this morning, I could hear Swifts screaming outside!

Cuckoo in the New Forest. Photo by Pete Appleton.

When I had my lunch around 1pm, I sat outside in the garden to watch the insects go about their business. Incredibly, I had my first ‘Garden Tick’ of a male Orange-tip butterfly flying into my garden TWICE. I even pointed it out to my neighbours as the insect fluttered around the garden and then headed off north. Both Small White and Holly Blue were abundant too. A big thank you to fellow birder Pete Appleton who has allowed me to use his superb photos on my blog.