Heavy showers and sunny spells on the south coast.

 Thursday 14th May 2026

A big black cloud arriving over the Cemy and about to offload its cargo!

A day of bright sunshine and very heavy showers which many of them contained hailstones. I got caught out when I took the dogs for a walk in Highland Road Cemetery as a nasty big black cloud went overhead and emptied its load. Thank God there were a lot of big trees in the Cemy to hide under! Late this afternoon, we had thunder and lightning along with more hailstones and heavy rain, but at least I was at home. I even had the Moth Box last night, but it was very disappointing early this morning with just a few Moths present.

My Moth Box:

This Silver Y was one of only four moths present this morning.

Sadly, there were only four Moths of four species present: a Shuttle-shaped Dart, Silver Y, Pale Mottled Willow and a Vine’s Rustic and just to round it off, an Ichneuman Wasp species. I shouldn't really complain. At least it wasn't a complete blank and I know it will get better as the year progresses.

This Ichneuman Wasp species was inside the Moth Box. They do prey on moths too!

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

A major case of sunshine and showers here in Pembroke Road.

I managed to get up to 13 bird species this morning on my first shift and easily the best sighting was a Little Egret flying west over Governor’s Green and headed towards Portsmouth Harbour. It must have been on the Curtain Moat earlier. A Great Black-backed Gull flew over Governor’s Green and both Great and Blue Tit were seen singing in the Sycamore trees on the opposite side of the road. At 3pm, virtually on the dot, the heavens opened again in Pembroke Road, but at least I was dressed for it, unlike a lot of people present.

Yesterday, a juvenile Pied Wagtail was following the female bird that was searching for food around by the Bowling Green. The juvenile would not stop calling to its parent as I watched it feed the youngster before flying off onto the Green to join the male bird. Had the parents only just the one youngster that made it to fledge or had the other fledglings flown off?

Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:

The singing tail-less Chiffchaff. It has been here for at least three weeks so far. Will it find a mate?

Thankfully, there was only one shower while my dogs and I made our way slowly around the Cemetery, but when the hailstones came down, we were under one of the large trees until the worst of the weather headed off towards the Solent.

Above, a small flock of Swifts were high overhead and below, a Med Gull was flying south towards the houses and also a Feral Pigeon photobombing!

Above, the singing Chiffchaff and below, another songster (briefly), a Dunnock.

There were a few notable sightings and it involved the tail-less singing male Chiffchaff mostly. I heard it by the Horse Chestnut trees at first and then showed itself in one of the larger bushes near the Mausoleum. The bird certainly gets around as it flies and sings all over the Cemetery. I can hear it singing when I walk the dogs early in the morning so it cannot be too far from the main entrance. I heard and then saw it again over on the east side, perched high up in some dead branches singing its little heart out.

Above, Chickweed and below, Doves-foot Crane's-Bill

Above, Bird's-foot Trefoil and below, several clumps of Ox-eye Daisies were around the Cemy.

Above, a good number of Field Poppies were flowering and below, another large clump of Ox-eye Daisies.

An adult Mediterranean Gull flew low over my head, heading south and over the houses and I only got a poor record photo of the bird as it disappeared behind the houses. Overhead, I could hear the Swifts ‘screeching’ and saw at least four birds high in the now blue sky. I have read that the great majority of Swifts are still stuck in southern Europe and just waiting for the right winds to bring them over here. The biggest flock I have seen so far around my house is around six birds, though I already have one Swift using one of my nestboxes.

Above, there were a few insects around after the downpour. Above, a couple of Marmalade Hoverflies were seen and below, my first Yellow Dung Fly of the year.

Above, several Blackbirds were seen on our walk and below, at least one Robin showed well. This one successfully flew down and picked off a caterpillar in the grass.

Above, a Collared Dove and below, the tail-less Chiffchaff again.

Insects were going to be low in numbers due to the poor weather coming through, but I did see a Speckled Wood butterfly flying low over the grass and a few Hoverflies, notably Marmalade Hoverflies and a Yellow Dung Fly were all seen. More and more plants are coming out in flower including Chickweed, Birds-foot Trefoil and Dove’s-foot Cranesbill were all abundant and both Prickly and Smooth Sow-thistle plants stood proud against some of the graves. However, the large clumps of stunning Ox-eye Daisies looked amazing in the sunshine. There were some Council Workers strimming around some of the graves and they really had their job cut out as the grass had grown quite high. It's just a shame they simply let things be here and let nature take its course.

In Hampshire today:

The drake Garganey at Pennington Marshes today. Photo by Andy Tew.

Over near Lymington, Pennington Marshes hosted a summer plumage Little Stint that was associated with a 100+ Dunlin and a drake Garganey was also present. A real unusual record of a Razorbill on a river in the New Forest (the site was never disclosed) came to light today. A disorientated bird perhaps or possibly a sick individual? Apart from those records, it is fairly quiet elsewhere.