Windy weather still produces the Moths & birding with Andy.

Saturday 19^th September 2026.

A windy night here in Southsea with some rain thrown in too but still a reasonable haul of Moths in my garden this morning. The patio was wet when I started checking the Moths but the forecast does say it should remain dry throughout the day though cloudy and still breezy with a westerly blowing all day.

My Moth Box:

This Nutmeg moth was one of the latest I have ever had.

Up to 69 moths were recorded this morning of 19 species and the pick of the bunch was an unexpected Nutmeg moth. I did have a few earlier this summer, but this one was by far the latest one I have had in my garden. All the Autumn moths are starting to appear now including two Lunar Underwings, Plumed Fan-foots and the regular Golden Twin-spots. I read that somewhere else in Hampshire they are breeding now and I can only assume they are here in Southsea.

Above, one of two Golden Twin-spots and below, one of 5 Turnip Moths this morning.

Above, 2 Lunar Underwings were present inside the Moth Box including this bright individual.

The most numerous moths were the Lesser and Large Yellow Underwings with 14 and 12 respectively. 5 Turnip Moths was a good total and regarding the micro moths, up to 10 Light Brown Apple Moths were recorded. The following Moths were present this morning:

 

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Blair’s Mocha x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x10
Clancy’s Rustic x3	Common Plume x1
Lesser Yellow Underwing x14	Olive-tree Pearl x2
Large Yellow Underwing x12	Rusty-dot Pearl x2
Lunar Underwing x2	Ruddy Streak x1
Turnip Moth x5	Chevron Grass-moth x2
Pale Mottled Willow x1
L-album Wainscot x4
Plumed Fan-foot x2
Square-spot Rustic x1
Golden Twin-spot x2
Nutmeg x1
Double-striped Pug x3

 

Farlington Marshes & Langstone Harbour:

The Bar-tailed Godwit on the Lake at Farlington Marshes this morning.

It was Andy Fisher’s turn to drive today, of which I was most grateful for and although his car is on its last legs, the furthest he could drive to was Farlington Marshes. By 9am, the wind had increased and so the walk around the Reserve was a bit blowy to say the least. Birding pal Geoff Farwell went off inland today and so it was just Andy and myself enjoying what Farlington Marshes had to offer.

The Curlew Sandpiper on the Lake.

Our first port of call was the Viewing seat overlooking the main Lake where, sadly, there were very few waders. An unusual small wader had us baffled at first, but we concluded it was a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper that was wading on the foreshore at the northern end of the Lake and over at the southern end, a Bar-tailed Godwit was wading over on the grassy area. Wildfowl are most definitely building up in numbers with Pintail, Shoveler, Mallard, Teal and several Wigeon all seen on the Lake, while flocks of both Linnet and Goldfinch were seen in the adjacent fields.

This Oystercatcher, just north of the Lake, was seen hobbling away from us.

We received a message reporting a probable American Wigeon in the Stream area and promptly made our way there to join several familiar birders. Our initial excitement soon gave way to disappointment when the bird proved to be an escaped Chiloe Wigeon. I observed it preening near a group of Canada Geese, among which the Greylag Goose remained, and could understand how the initial misidentification had arisen. Such errors can occur even among experienced observers. The sight of a male Kestrel flying over the Bushes area then prompted me to move on.

Above, overlooking the Stream area from the Viewing benches. Below, honestly, this is a Cattle Egret flying off north.

After a chat with the guys present, we headed off to the Viewing seats overlooking the Stream for a coffee. Sadly, not a lot of birds were present from here (just Gulls and Coots!), but I did hear at least one or two Bearded Tits calling within the reedbeds; but it was so windy, there was no chance of seeing any within the reeds. A Cattle Egret was seen briefly heading north high over the Reserve and then flew off northbound over the motorway.

Above, a Small Copper and below, a Common Blue with a Clouded Yellow behind.

Above, yet another Clouded Yellow and below, a Small White.

The Butterflies present on the Reserve were virtually all Clouded Yellows. It has been an incredible year for this migratory species in the UK and there must easily have been at least 40+ seen today. In one area along the seawall, near the Deeps area, we saw five species of Butterflies in just one area: at least 4 Clouded Yellows, Small White, Small Heath, Small Copper and Common Blues.

Above, I cannot believe how dry the Deeps were with this hard-backed mud for proof. Below, a pair of Little Egrets hunting fish.

It was low tide within the Harbour, but we were keen to keep an eye out in the channel for Terns due to the amazing number of species seen here recently. The only Terns we did see from the Point was a flock of 6 Sandwich Terns. The Deeps area was very quiet. I have never seen it so dry here with hardly any water whatsover due to the heatwaves in the Summer. We did not sit there long, though a group of 7 Great Crested Grebes were out in Langstone Channel. From the Point, there were a respectable number of waders to be seen including around 30+ Ringed Plover, a Dunlin and around 10 Oystercatchers. Way in the distance southwest of Oyster Island, I could see at least probably around 100+ Oystercatchers and many more Dunlin feeding on the mudflats plus good numbers of Little Egrets fishing in the shallow waters.

Above, Ringed Plovers moved in to where we sat by the Point and below, a Dunlin joined them.

Above, one of a flock of 6 Sandwich Terns out in the Channel.

While walking into the wind, I proposed that Andy and I conduct a seawatch from Southsea seafront to observe any seabirds moving through the area. Earlier reports from Hill Head had included two Arctic Skuas and several Black Terns, suggesting a reasonable possibility of encountering one or both species. I found out later this afternoon that a Garganey had flown onto the Stream area this morning.

The Solent, Southsea Seafront:

You can just make out the large flock of Gulls and Sandwich Terns offshore from Southsea seafront.

After paying for our parking and a couple of excellent coffees from the Briny Restaurant, we made our way to one of the shelters overlooking the Solent. We spent almost the next two hours checking the sea, but it must be said, it was a bit disappointing; especially for Andy.

There was a scattering of Gulls on the beach including this Herring Gull flanked by Black-headed Gulls. Below, an adult Med Gull heading off westbound.

In two hours, we observed two distant gull flocks, mainly Black-headed Gulls, with several Herring Gulls and up to three Mediterranean Gulls. A shoal of fish also attracted at least 16 Sandwich Terns, many of which dived for prey. The birds remained for about 30 minutes before dispersing or settling on the sea.

Above, the Waverley Paddle Steamer out in the Solent.

The bird of the trip here was an adult Gannet of which I picked up through the scope. I was lucky to find it as it was gliding down to land on the sea and once upon the sea, it simply vanished behind the waves and never seen again. I put Andy onto where the bird landed, but he had no sighting of the bird of which it would have been a ‘year-tick’ for him. So, apart from a couple of very distant Cormorants, we decided to stop for the day and although it was a rather quiet day for us, it was still enjoyable.

A real blast from the past. Coloured vinyl still available.