Some excellent Moths and nesting Wrens in Pembroke Road.

Monday 18th May 2026.

This cracking Golden Twin-spot moth was unexpected in my Moth Box this morning.

A mixed weather forecast today with the morning being bright and sunny with high clouds and this afternoon, overcast, breezy and a bit damp at times. I had the Moth Box on again overnight and it really paid off this time with a good haul of Moths and another three more that were new for the year. It was cold at 7am this morning and remained that way in the strong westerly wind all morning, despite being so bright.

Pembroke Road, in Old Portsmouth, was fairly quiet this morning, but I did get to see where a Wren was nesting as the parent birds were going in and out of their nest throughout the day.

My Moth Box:

Another superb Moth, a Satin Wave, was also present this morning; a species that is quite uncommon to my garden.

There were a few nice surprises early this morning when I discovered two very good moths for my year list: a Golden Twin-spot and a Satin Wave. The former was on one of the egg trays within the Moth Box and the latter was perched on the box itself. The Satin Wave is a very scarce moth for my garden and a very welcome addition to my year list; whereas the Golden Twin-spot is becoming more and more regular to my garden; especially in the Autumn where I can get into double figures some mornings.

My second Least Arches Moth for this year.

Another scarce moth is the Least Black Arches and I was pleased to find one sitting on the white sheet behind my Box. The other moth new for the year was a micro moth, the Pale-backed Detritus Moth (Monopis crocricapitella), a species that is regular in my garden every now and then. In total, there were 24 moths of 14 species present this morning. The Moths recorded this morning were as follows:

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Golden Twin-spot * x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x2
Satin Wave * x1	Pale-backed Detritus Moth * x1
Least Black Arches x1	Ruddy Streak x2
Shuttle-shaped Dart x5	White-shouldered House Moth x1
Pale Mottled Willow x3
Double-striped Pug x1
Heart & Dart x1
Vine’s Rustic x3
Garden Carpet x1
Bright-line Brown-eye x1

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

It was bright at first and then got a lot colder and overcast in the afternoon.

As mentioned, though the number of species seen was just 13 seen from both shifts, I thoroughly enjoyed watching a pair of Wrens going in and out where they nested by someone's house. The male bird was singing occasionally nearby or it could have been possibly a 3rd bird in the vicinity. The Pied Wagtails came down to the Bowling Green again and this time there were 4 birds on the Green. I believe that they were a pair of juveniles joining their parents as I watched them chase insects over the Green.

This afternoon, the weather turned colder and a bit drizzly at times, but a pair of Mediterranean Gulls livened things up as they flew over my head and headed off southbound towards the seafront; my third species of Gull for the day. Surprisingly, not one Black-headed Gull was seen today.

In Hampshire today:

A Black Tern was seen in the Kench area of Hayling Island this afternoon and a couple of Hobbies were seen in the Southampton area. Over at Fishlake Meadows, at least 5 Water Rails were noted along with a female Marsh Harrier and 2 Cuckoo’s noted. All in all, a pretty quiet day in Hampshire.

Birding pal, Geoff Farwell went birding down Farlington Marshes yesterday and recorded the following birds: 3 Whimbrel, a Little Ringed Plover, 8 Avocets, Sparrowhawk, Lesser Whitethroat and up to 6 Bearded Tits with 2 youngsters. Fellow birder James Cutting took a trip into West Sussex yesterday and scored with a fine adult Temmincks Stint on the Ferry Pool and a Roseate Tern on Tern Island within Pagham Harbour. I, along with my family, took a trip over to Wickham yesterday to explore the Antique shop Chesapeake Mill, where I treated myself to a few items. They have a terrific little tea-room inside the shop and while having a Latte, a male Grey Wagtail perched on the roof guttering for all of us to see. The River Meon flows strongly adjacent to the Mill, so I wasn't too surprised to see one here today. On the trip there, both Kestrel and a Red Kite were seen flying over the M27.

The Roseate Tern (smallest Tern in photo) seen distantly on the Tern Island with Sandwich Terns in Pagham Harbour. Photo by James Cutting.