Monday 15th June 2026.
At last, a lovely Monday morning with bright sunshine with temperatures around 20 degrees. There is talk of another heatwave on its way towards the end of the week, but we can expect the odd shower this week like we did this morning, just after taking the dogs for a walk. After last week's grim weather, I was talking to the guys about the lack of Swifts over Southsea, but they seemed to come back all of a sudden. While walking the dogs this morning, I did notice several birds going into nestholes further up my road, though none using the nestboxes I had put up. Apart from two of the boxes being used by my house, I am a little disappointed that none of the others are being used. Fussy buggers!
I didn't have the Moth Box on overnight as I fancied an actual lay in (getting up at 4.45am most mornings eventually takes its toll on you!), but I was rewarded today with a superb Hummingbird Hawk-moth on the flowering Buddleia at lunch time while I sat outside with my lunch and my scrounging dogs! On the negative side, the windy conditions this morning blew my Moth Box over and smashed some of the rainguard of which I have temporarily mended (Good old Gorilla tape!)
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
As mentioned, it was much more pleasant on my first shift here in Pembroke Road this morning. A good count of 14 bird species were recorded here this morning and that included at least four Swifts! They obviously went somewhere warm with plenty of aerial insects (Greece, Southern Spain perhaps?) and eventually returned to good old Pompey!
Three species of Gull were seen again: Herring, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls, but, to be honest, it was all the usual birds that were seen. The Blue Tit family seemed to have fledged (I heard the youngsters last Friday within the nearby trees), but no sight or sound of them today, though I did hear both Blue and Great Tit calling. A lot of calling juvenile Starlings were heard behind the Bowling Green that involved at least 8 birds as far as I could see.
The warm weather certainly brought out the butterflies with Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Large White and Small White were all seen well, but I was really chuffed to see a large Dragonfly flying low over the road. Judging by the size and shape of it and the way it flew, I can only assume it was one of the Hawkers and most likely a Southern Hawker; but the Dragonfly would not settle and soon flew off towards the Holm Oaks.
After my second shift, the sun was shining still and also pleasantly warm and so I quickly checked out the flowering Buddleia at the back of my garden. No sign of the midday Hummingbird Hawk-moth, but a Red Admiral was nectaring on one of the Buddleia flower heads and several Holly Blue’s fluttered around the back of the garden also.
In Hampshire today:
The only bird of note today was a Curlew Sandpiper in full summer plumage at the back of the lake on Farlington Marshes.
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