A lot more Moths in the garden and plenty of birds in Old Portsmouth.

Tuesday 29^th September 2026.

A bright start to the day.

A fine start to the day here in Southsea with some high cloud overhead, but plenty of blue sky around and sunshine this morning. It is getting cloudier this afternoon with a few possible showers on the horizon. A light easterly blew across the coast here which could possibly bring in a Yellow-browed Warbler or something similar?

The Moth Box was a bit more active overnight with a good selection of Autumnal moths present and my first shift in Old Portsmouth had a reasonable number of bird species around the trees and overhead today.

My Moth Box:

Always good to get the migrant Small Mottled Willow in the garden.

This morning was by far much better than Sunday mornings moth total though I wasn’t the only one reporting such low totals that morning. Today, I recorded 33 moths of 13 species that included some very nice moths. Vestal, Small Mottled Willow, Golden Twin-spot and Clancy’s Rustic were most appreciated.

Above, one of three Feathered Ranunculus moths this morning and below, my first Golden Twin-spot for the week.

Above, a Blair's Mocha within the Moth Box.

Even Lunar Underwings and Feathered Ranunculus were on the increase, and I hope some more new species will be gracing my garden soon. It was the micro moths that produced the most for their species with 6 each of Rusty-dot Pearls and Light Brown Apple Moths and I would not be surprised that there were many more hiding away in my garden under the leaves and cracks of the garden fence. The moths present this morning included the following:

 

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Clancy’s Rustic x4	Rusty-dot Pearl x6
Lunar Underwing x2	Light Brown Apple Moth x6
Double-striped Pug x4
Small Mottled Willow x1
Small Dusty Wave x1
Vestal x1
Feathered Ranunculus x3
Golden Twin-spot x1
Blair’s Mocha x1
L-album Wainscot x1
Lesser Yellow Underwing x2

 

Visible migration was quiet this morning here over my garden, though a few distant Meadow Pipits were heard flying over and a lone Pied Wagtail was seen heading south.

 

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Bright and sunny here this morning with some high cloud overhead. Again, a good total of bird species this morning.

Thirteen bird species were seen or heard this morning on my first shift here in Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth as the shift kicked off here with three Pied Wagtails seen searching and chasing insects on the Bowling Green. I’m glad to say that the Wagtails are starting to show more regularly now either here on the Bowling Green or on Governors Green. There was no sign of any Grey Wagtails this morning.

The Chiffchaff was heard again calling from the pathway between the Bowling Green and the house opposite. A couple of Blackbirds were seen chasing one another close by and I could have sworn that I heard a Song Thrush calling in the Holm Oaks but simply could not see the bird. All the usual birds were present, though there were a few omissions that just might turn up this afternoon here.

The bird species seen or heard this morning included the following:

• Magpie
• Carrion Crow
• Herring Gull
• Black-headed Gull
• Blackbird
• Great Tit
• Blue Tit
• Pied Wagtail (3)
• Chiffchaff
• Wren
• Robin
• Wood Pigeon
• Feral Pigeon

This afternoon, on my second shift, the weather changed considerably where cloud had now rolled in and the threat of rain was a probability. Thankfully, the rain stayed away but the wind had increased. The only new bird species seen for the day was a Great Black-backed Gull flying over Curtain Moat with another perched on a roof in nearby Penny Street; to make it 14 species for the day. 

There has already been many reports of Convolvulus Hawk-moth this month including one today in Lymington, Hampshire. I had this individual in my back garden a few years ago and hopefully, another will not be too far away.