Twenty bird species at Old Portsmouth.

Monday 5^th October 2026.

Another foggy start to the day here in Southsea, with Ships fog-horns going off in the Solent and on my first shift today, it remained overcast and rather cool. In fact, with that light northerly wind, I was actually cold for the first time in a long time, though I still have a blocked-up nose and do not feel 100%!

Thankfully, it certainly got a lot warmer by my second shift with plenty of sunshine and hardly any wind whatsoever. I even added a couple more bird species to my day list here and was mildly surprised on how many butterflies were on the wing here this afternoon.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Another foggy start to the day, but the bird list was exceptional today.

The highest species count for October today with a huge 20 species seen between both morning and afternoon shifts. Obviously, the morning shift produced the best sightings and that included a Great Spotted Woodpecker climbing the old tree opposite me and showed well for at least five minutes before disappearing into the vegetation. A Firecrest was also present and although it was both singing and calling frequently, I never got a single sighting of the bird as it was deep within one of the Holm Oaks.

Overhead, there was a bit of visible migration going on overhead and that included a Grey Wagtail, up to 2 Song Thrushes and several Meadow Pipits heading westbound. There was just one Pied Wagtail on the Bowling Green this morning while nearby, the Wren, Dunnock and Robin were all heard only.

This afternoon, both Great Black-backed Gull and Jay were added to my day total. The afternoon shift produced several butterflies flying through, and it included a Clouded Yellow, Painted Lady, 2 Small White’s and a Holly Blue; all of which flying just feet away from where I stood!

The birds recorded this morning included the following:

• Herring Gull
• Black-headed Gull
• Great Black-backed Gull
• Wood Pigeon
• Feral Pigeon
• Magpie
• Carrion Crow
• Jay
• Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Firecrest
• Blue Tit
• Great Tit
• Meadow Pipit
• Pied Wagtail
• Grey Wagtail
• Blackbird
• Song Thrush (2)
• Dunnock
• Wren
• Robin

Yesterday, birding pal Geoff Farwell was back down Farlington Marshes were he recorded the following sightings: Marsh Harrier, 8 Cattle Egret, Water Rail, Little Stint, Wheatear, 7 Stonechats, 3 Chiffchaff, numerous Cetti’s Warblers and 4 Blackcaps.

One of the male Ring Ouzels seen yesterday at Butser Hill. Photo by Steve Laycock.

A ‘posse’ of Lazee Birders were on Butser Hill yesterday overlooking the bushes below for Ring Ouzel and at least two were seen during the morning. A ringtail Hen-Harrier was seen in the Sway area of the New Forest this morning though judging by today’s sightings on Hants Birding, it was a fairly quiet day here in Hampshire.