An afternoon walk over the Cemy.

Thursday 27th August 2026.

Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:

The Jays put in a strong appearance today.

I really fancied taking the dogs for a walk around Highland Road Cemetery this afternoon and so at 4pm, we made our way to my local patch here in the centre of Southsea. The weather was just perfect, with this morning’s humidity gone due a breezy south-westerly wind that kept the temperature just right. It was a bit overcast and at times, it looked like a possibility of a shower was on the horizon, but it didn’t appear and so we had a nice ramble around the site.

Above, some new grass was shooting up through all that yellow. We need so much more rain to replenish the grass here and maybe it is on its way over the next few days? Below, one of the two Jays that showed very well today.

At this time of year, there is always a chance of something unusual like a Pied Flycatcher or a Wryneck (I have never seen the latter in the Cemy) and it kicked off with a brief view of a calling Willow Warbler flying out of a bush and then back in again only to disappear out of view. Seconds later, a Jay grabbed my attention as it politely landed on a gravestone, but when your dogs are tugging on their lead and you are trying to take a sharp photo, you can guess the outcome! The good news is that they showed very well later on our walk.

Above, there were a few plants in flower including the most numerous, the Yarrow. Below, one of the Horse Chestnut trees that was losing its leaves due to the dry weather this summer.

The Victorious Festival starts today, and I could hear distant music as I walked along the footpath. I’ll begin with the bird sightings; as mentioned, the Jays showed very well today. Two birds performed nicely, posing on the gravestones and the nearly dry grass while searching for insects.

Above, this Holly Blue butterfly was unexpected nectaring on Yarrow and below, a Red Admiral sunning itself.

It was when I was walking up to the Mausoleum, I quietly told my dogs to stop as I found the juvenile Green Woodpecker perched on one of the graves. Fearing the bird would be spooked by my presence, I carefully and slowly raised my camera to grab some excellent shots of this shy bird. In fact, shy was most certainly it wasn’t as it posed there for at least five minutes before hopping off in search of an Ants nest by the graves. Its moments like this in birding that becomes memorable. This bird has been seen or heard several times now over the past few months, but I have never seen it this close.

Above, this Blue Tit would not sit still and so I was lucky to get this photo and below, a female Common Blue butterfly sunning itself on a grave.

Sadly, there were no further Warbler sightings and no Flycatchers lurking around. Apart from the usual Crows and Wood Pigeons in the Cemy, and Herring Gulls passing overhead, there were few other birds about. I did come across a small flock of Blue Tits in the south-east corner, but they were very difficult to photograph.

Above, the Jay was hopping about in search of something to eat and below, the juvenile Green Woodpecker showing very well standing on one of the graves.

Walking around some of the grassy areas with the dogs, good numbers of Common Blue butterflies were around along with a single Holly Blue; though I wonder what they were feeding on as there wasn’t too many flowering plants around. I did find a Clouded Yellow flying around in the south-east corner, but it would not settle and soon disappeared heading north. At least two Red Admiral butterflies were seen, and one posed perfectly on a grave.

Above, I have noticed that there were a lot of berries on both the Holly Trees and the Pyracantha bushes in my garden and also a lot of berries in the Cemetery. Below, I was underneath this Plane tree when I took this photo.

Other insects noted this afternoon included a Migrant Hawker dragonfly that was flitting about the bushes in the south-east corner and on the way back home, I found my first Wasp Plumehorn (Volucella inanis) of the year sat on someone’s front wall in my road! As the old saying goes, expect the unexpected.

Above, another photo of the juvenile Green Woodpecker, blinking this time! Below, a Wasp Plumehorn that was perched on a wall within my road. 

I read in this months Birdwatch Magazine about the plight of the Collared Dove in the UK. It claims that this species is declining in numbers and while I think about it, I have noticed a sharp decline in this species in the Cemetery. In the winter, they do like roosting here and flocks of around 20 birds would be the norm, but now, you are lucky to see any at all here or simply the odd one flying over. Sad times indeed.

After the rain showers this morning, I new the Moths would disperse in my garden and this afternoon,  I found this Portland Ribbon Wave moth perched on the fence opposite my Moth Box.

In Hampshire today:

This superb photo of a Whinchat at Hook-with-Warsash was taken recently by Rob Porter.

I think Pennington Marshes was the place to be today with a variety of waders present that included a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper and a Ruff along with a few Whinchat, Wheatears and Yellow Wagtails. There was a juvenile Black Tern off Hill Head briefly this afternoon and a huge flock of Gulls off Cowes, Isle of Wight that could hold something interesting. Nearby Dorset had a Franklin’s Gull on Stanpit Marshes and was most likely the Isle of Wight bird seen recently.