Saturday 6th June 2026.
This well-marked Shears moth was a nice bonus this morning. I normally only manage one of these annually.
In a nutshell, the weather was simply awful today. I did have plans of going to Chalton to hopefully see the Turtle Doves (oops, should I have mentioned that!?), but the very poor weather this morning and this afternoon put paid to that and I never even had my Moth Box on overnight knowing full well it was going to be a very wet night.
Small Magpie Moth in one of the egg trays.
On the positive side, Andy and Geoff had their Moth Box on and it paid off with an excellent number and variety of Moths with up to NINE ‘year-ticks’ present! Not only that, we had a good catch up of all the goings on over the past few weeks and a couple of cups of coffee thrown in too (not literally!) There were a few notable birds around Cowplain Marsh too (Andy’s back garden), while we were busy checking out the egg trays by Geoff's Moth Box too.
One of two Light Emerald moths today.
The very strong southerly winds enticed a few ‘sea-watchers’ out into the field and it paid off with sightings of Manx Shearwaters, Arctic Skua and Fulmar going through the Solent and even a Storm Petrel was seen; though I read that the Shearwaters were only seen off the Milford Shelter. On a national note, a Western Reef Heron (UK first?) was found in north Wales at Foryd Bay, Caernarfon and judging by the photo, what a cracking bird.
Andy’s Moth Box (Cowplain Marsh):
This stunning Varied Coronet was new for the year.
To be honest, after last night's and this morning's poor weather, I didn't expect to see many moths in Andy’s garden, but low and behold, an impressive total of 49 moths of 29 species were recorded and that included some excellent Moths. New for the year included a Cypress Carpet, Snout, Light Emerald, Varied Coronet, Shears and the micro moths, Variegated Golden Tortrix, Green Oak Tortrix, Oak Knot-horn and a Small Magpie Moth.
Above, Poplar Hawk-moth and below, a Snout.
Above, Green Oak Tortrix and below Cypress Carpet.
As well as these new moths for the year, there was a Poplar Hawk-moth within one of the egg boxes and a cracking Buff-tip sat on the ground near the Box. My second Rustic Shoulder-knot of the year was a good find and also my second Garden Grass-veneer of the year. It took nearly an hour to go through the moths, but it was most enjoyable. It was Geoff's MV Moth Box that was switched on overnight as I was returning Andy's Moth Box after using it on my Devon trip. The Moths recorded this morning included the following:
MACRO MOTHS | MICRO MOTHS |
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Willow Beauty x7 | Coeleophora species x1 |
Vine’s Rustic x1 | Variegated Golden Tortrix * x1 |
Freyer’s Pug x1 | Green Oak Tortrix * x1 |
Dark Arches x2 | Oak Knot-horn * x1 |
Cypress Carpet * x1 | Common Plume x1 |
Small Dusty Wave x1 | Garden Grass-veneer x1 |
Snout * x1 | Small Magpie Moth * x1 |
Common Marbled Carpet x2 |
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Heart & Dart x12 |
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Treble-lines x1 |
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Flame Shoulder x1 |
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Light Emerald * x2 |
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Bright-line Brown-eye x1 |
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Green Pug x1 |
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Rustic Shoulder-knot x1 |
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Double-striped Pug x1 |
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Buff-tip x1 |
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Poplar Hawk-moth x1 |
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Brimstone Moth x1 |
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Varied Coronet * x1 |
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Shears * x1 |
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Pale Mottled Willow x1 |
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The only other insect within the egg trays and Moth Box was a Cinnamon Sedge Caddis Fly. We did our best to keep out of the drizzly rain this morning, but we did hear a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the neighbouring garden and a Blackcap was singing briefly when I pulled up outside Andy’s house when I arrived. The wet weather put paid in checking out the rest of Andy's garden, but that was a very good morning with the Moths.
Two more 'year-ticks', above, the Variegated Golden Tortrix and below, Oak Knot-horn.
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