Low Moth numbers due to cold weather.

 Tuesday 12th May 2026.

The stunning red Valerian growing on the wall by the footpath leading to Curtain Moat. This lovely flowering plant attracts a lot of insects, especially the Butterflies during the daytime and the Moths at night.

Another bright and sunny start to the morning though at 7am, it was still very chilly with temperatures only around 5 degrees. It remained cold throughout my first shift, but though there was a breezy north-westerly, it was a lot warmer this afternoon, though a lot more cloud cover. The Moth Box was on overnight, but relatively few Moths due to the clear skies overnight.

My Moth Box:

This Treble-lines was arguably the pick of the moths.

The cold weather had a big impact on the amount of Moths present this morning, with a measly total of just 5 moths of 5 species and one of those was seen from the Kitchen window! Pick of the small crop was a Treble-lines and the others were a Shuttle-shaped Dart, Bright-line Brown-eye and a Common Pug. The only other moth was a ‘micro moth’, a Light Brown Apple Moth.

While checking the Moth Box, I heard a Yellow Wagtail flying over my house, but as per usual, I could not see the bird in the bright blue sky.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

One of the footpaths leading from Pembroke Road to the Curtain Moat.

Just the 12 bird species were recorded from both shifts today in Pembroke Road with all the usual suspects present that included a pair of Pied Wagtails on the Bowling Green. I would have thought the Swifts would be over Old Portsmouth by now, but I have only seen them only once this month. A few Black-headed Gulls flew over Governor’s Green and both Wren and Blackbird flew low over the road and narrowly avoided being hit by a car!

Another cross-channel Ferry leaving Portsmouth Harbour.

Regarding the insects, a Painted Lady butterfly was seen fluttering around on the opposite side of the road and even landed a few times (hence being able to ID the butterfly) and yesterday’s Small Dusty Wave moth was still present this morning, though perched roughly 12 inches from where it was yesterday! A quiet day here, but I will always keep my eyes peeled for anything interesting.

This superb photo of a Cuckoo at Fishlake Meadows was taken by Rob Porter yesterday.