More fog, but some good Moths.

Tuesday 6^th October 2026.

A very foggy start as I walked the dogs past Highland Road Cemetery.

Another very foggy start to the day of which I could not see some of the houses in the distance; it was that foggy! However, it was cool with temperatures around 12 degrees with next to no wind. I had the Moth Box on overnight, hoping to trap something different this morning, but although there was a good number present, it was Moths that I had seen before.

A Chiffchaff was heard in the big tree to the north of my garden and then, probably the same bird was seen a little later in a Sycamore tree to the south of my garden. Overhead, the thick fog concealed a calling Linnet flying over, but little else while I was checking the Moth Box.

My Moth Box:

This Portland Ribbon Wave was most welcome this morning.

A total of 45 moths of 11 species this morning, nearly half of which were Light Brown Apple Moths of various shapes and colours. The highest number of Lunar Underwings for the year were present this morning with 6 individuals in various colours and another good moth, the Portland Ribbon Wave, was sat on the white board behind my Moth Box.

Above, Olive-tree Pearl and below, Plumed Fan-foot.

Up to 3 Clancy’s Rustics, including a very worn individual, were recorded and both Plumed Fan-foot and Blair’s Mocha really made up the more uncommon Moths. I’m still waiting for my first Black Rustic of the year, which surely will not be long now.

Above, one of 6 Lunar Underwings today and below, this very worn Clancy's Rustic had me scratching my head at first, but you can just see the dark spots on the wings.

The following Moths were recorded this morning:

 

MACRO MOTHS	MICRO MOTHS
Plumed Fan-foot x1	Light Brown Apple Moth x25
Clancy’s Rustic x3	Tree-mallow Tortrix x1
Portland Ribbon Wave x1	Rusty-dot Pearl x2
Blair’s Mocha x1	Olive-tree Pearl x2
L-album Wainscot x1
Lunar Underwing x6
Large Yellow Underwing x2

 

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

A foggy start for my first shift of the day in Old Portsmouth.

Thick fog enveloped Governor’s Green on my arrival but as I was just leaving Pembroke Road after my first shift, the fog had lifted, but watching the big ships coming out of Portsmouth Harbour and then letting off their fog-horns was something to both see and hear. The 60+ Wood Pigeons didn’t take too kindly to the fog-horns as they scattered in panic after feeding on grass shoots on Governor’s Green!

This morning on my first shift, a total of 13 species were recorded here in Pembroke Road, which was pretty good due to the thick fog. The Jay put in a brief appearance by flying west along the road and landing in the Sycamore trees. Up to three Pied Wagtails were noted, with one on the Bowling Green and two flying north high over the road. A Chiffchaff called several times somewhere in the Holm Oaks, but no sign of the Firecrest this morning. Both Robin and Wren were occasionally in song with both birds seen well on the opposite side of the road by the house.

The weather did improve as it neared 9am and this afternoon on my second shift, it did get up to 23 degrees standing in Pembroke Road, but two more bird species were added to my day list that included Magpie and a flyover Linnet.

The birds recorded this morning included the following:

• Herring Gull
• Wood Pigeon
• Feral Pigeon
• Carrion Crow
• Jay
• Blue Tit
• Great Tit
• Pied Wagtail
• Blackbird
• Dunnock
• Wren
• Robin
• Chiffchaff
• Magpie
• Linnet

In Hampshire today:

There was some amazing news coming out of Farlington Marshes this afternoon when Jason Crook came across a Corncrake scuttling about in vegetation some 300metres southeast of the main entrance. It was last seen around 1pm but was seen again by a birder using a thermal camera early evening.

Birding pal Andy Fisher saw his one and only Corncrake on Farlington Marshes way back on the 20^th October 1979 with the late Dave Billett. It had flown out of a cavity on the seawall on the east side near the Deeps area; but the sighting was very brief. Personally, I had to go to the gorgeous little island of Iona to see my Corncrakes, which, incidentally, was my 400^th species of bird in the UK. Another birding pal, Geoff Farwell also went to Iona to see his Corncrakes too.