An afternoon walk around the Cemy.

 

Tuesday 18^th August 2026.

 

Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:

The dried yellow grass clearly was visible along the footpath.

With some free time this afternoon, I took the dogs over to Highland Road Cemetery so we could stretch our legs and check whether anything interesting had dropped in—perhaps a Warbler or Flycatcher. A Pied Flycatcher had been reported again along the Titchfield Canal Path this morning, so there was at least a chance that one might turn up on my local patch.

Above and below, a young Wood Pigeon being tended by its parent.

Southsea actually had some rain this morning: one sharp shower lasting around ten minutes. It was never going to do much to replenish the parched grass here in the south, but it was welcome nonetheless. More rain is forecast for tomorrow, though I will not be holding my breath. The morning stayed overcast for a while, but eventually the clouds parted and warm sunshine broke through on a breezy westerly.

A male Blackbird near the footpath.

The birdlife within the Cemy was limited again and certainly no interesting Warblers or Flycatchers to be found. A Coal Tit was probably the highlight here though they are a scarce species to be found here. There were several parties of both Blue and Great Tits flying about within the vegetation and a lone Blackbird was seen briefly sitting on the dead grass.

One of several Meadow Brown butterflies seen this afternoon.

Butterflies were still plentiful, though they were all Meadow Browns and Holly Blues. Bees and hoverflies, however, were almost absent, which was worrying. I know the birds are struggling with the lack of water, but are the insects suffering too? None of the flowering Buddleia I checked had any insects on them.

Hopefully, more rain is on the way.

There were very few plants on show either, but I did find a carpet of Bird’s-foot Trefoil and Lady Bedstraw near some graves. There were a few spikes of Ragwort around and probably the most abundant flowering plant seen in the Cemy was the Yarrow.

Above, the Yarrow was the most numerous plant seen and below, there were a few areas of Birds-foot Trefoil dotted around.

On the way home, while walking back up my road with the dogs, a Hummingbird Hawk-moth flew south high over my head and simply just carried on its way.