More moth 'year-ticks' and four Gull species in Pembroke Road.

 Friday 17th April 2026.

An Early Grey moth was present in my Moth Box this morning.

It was an overcast start to the morning, but fairly mild as I took my dogs out for their early morning walk. I had the Moth Box on again overnight and was rewarded with another good total of Moths and a couple that were new for the year. Pembroke Road was rather quiet this morning, but I did get four species of Gull today. The weather got a lot better this afternoon on my second shift with bright sunshine and a crystal blue sky overhead with just a few wispy clouds overhead with a south-westerly wind again. Hopefully, today's weather will linger into Saturday?

My Moth Box:

My first Silver Y of the year.

A reasonable total for this time of year here in Southsea, with up to 17 moths of 5 species. Both Shuttle-shaped Dart and a Silver Y were new for the year; both species being quite common in my garden throughout the year. An Early Grey was the only other ‘macro’ moth present. It was the micro moths that really made up the numbers.

Another moth that was new for the year was this Shuttle-shaped Dart.

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Shuttle-shaped Dart * x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x5
Silver Y * x1	Ruddy Streak x9
Early Grey x1

A pair of Mediterranean Gulls flew high overhead while I was checking the Moth Box, but nothing else of note this morning. When I walked the dogs this morning, after I had my breakfast, I could hear a Chiffchaff singing from Highland Road Cemetery as we passed.

I found this Angle Shades moth caterpillar crawling by my Moth Box. That was until I picked it up and it curled up into a ball!

Back in the garden, when I checked the Moth Box and surrounding area after my first shift, I found an Angle Shades Moth caterpillar crawling nearby.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

One of the front gardens in Pembroke Road where a variety of insects roam.

As mentioned earlier, it was overcast on my first shift but was much sunnier in the afternoon and a tad warmer too. I finally got up to FOUR species of Gull today in Pembroke Road with Black-headed Gulls (seen this afternoon on my second shift), Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and finally, my first Mediterranean Gull of the Spring here at this site. Sadly, no migrants were seen or heard, but the Jay was heard squawking somewhere deep within the Holm Oaks.

This afternoon, a single Small White butterfly flew past me and headed off west down the road, narrowly avoiding the passing cars!

In Hampshire today:

The Curlew Sandpiper at Pennington Marshes yesterday.

Early this morning, hot on the heels of the Arctic Skua passing Hill Head, a Great Skua also went past the same site; both seen by the same observer. A single Grasshopper Warbler was at Winchester College Water Meadows again, while on Farlington Marshes, a Common Sandpiper and a Ruff were present. Blashford Lakes held a Little Gull, female Goosander and a male Marsh Harrier and nearby Pig Bush, in the New Forest, held a couple of Cuckoo’s, 11 Redstarts and a Garden Warbler. White Storks made an appearance at Petersfield and Fishlake Meadows and again, there were a good variety of migrants reported today.