Five new moths for the year.

Saturday 28th May 2022.

Maiden's Blush.

I was up around 4.45am this morning and although it was a cold night with temperatures dropping to around 8 degrees, I was ever hopeful in getting something special in the moth box first thing. In fact, though there were 5 new moth species for my year list, that something quite special did not materialise, but there were at least 66 moths of 29 species for me to check out. A bright and clear morning, with a near cloudless sky overhead bodes well for today.  The following moths were present this morning:

• 7 Lime-speck Pug
• 3 Double-striped Pug
• 1 Green Pug (NFY)
• 3 Bright-line Brown-eye
• 4 Garden Carpet
• 7 White Ermine
• 3 Willow Beauty
• 1 Pepper Moth
• 3 Shuttle-shaped Dart
• 2 Yellow-barred Brindle
• 3 Vines Rustic
• 1 Maiden’s Blush (NFY)
• 3 Common Marbled Carpet
• 1 Buff Ermine
• 1 Freyer’s Pug
• 1 L-album Wainscot (NFY)
• 1 Heart & Dart
• 1 Brimstone Moth
• 1 Common Wainscot (NFY)
• 2 Common Pug
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow
• 1 Marbled Minor (NFY)
• 2 Common Plume
• 1 White-shouldered House Moth
• 6 Tachystola acroxantha
• 3 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 1 Celypha striana
• 1 Platyedra subcinerea
• 1 Diamond-back Moth

Common Wainscot.

L-album Wainscot.

Celypha striana.

Marbled Minor.

Freyer's Pug.

Green Pug.

No new moths today.

Friday 27 May 2022.

Shuttle-shaped Darts come in various guises and this one threw me a bit, though I was correct on the ID.  

A drizzly, yet bright, start to the morning and thankfully, it was a 5.10am start and the local Spadgers had not been attacking my moths yet. Phew! Unfortunately, nothing new in the moth box this morning for the year, but a nice variety nonetheless. The ornamental Rabbit I keep as a weight on top of my rain guard on top of the moth box, actually held a few moths, which I did not not notice at first when I took it off the box first thing this morning. When I put it back, there were 3 more moths hiding within it, including a Diamond-back Moth! This morning's moth present today were the following:

• 1 Willow Beauty
• 3 Lime-speck Pug
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 4 Shuttle-shaped Dart
• 1 Common Marbled Carpet
• 2 Yellow-barred Brindle
• 3 Pale Mottled Willow
• 3 Heart & Dart
• 3 Vines Rustic
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 2 White Ermine
• 1 Bright-line Brown-eye
• 1 Diamond-back Moth
• 1 Brown House Moth
• 2 Tachystola acroxantha
• 7 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 1 Common Plume

Yesterday was fairly quiet for me, with a few Common Buzzards seen overhead including one over the M275 and another over The Oaks Crematorium. Two different Kestrels were seen hovering by the road along Portsdown Hill. Back over The Oaks Crematorium, yesterday's Buff-tip moth was still present by the Book of Remembrance building and what was probably an Iron Prominent moth was on the wall just above the exit doors, but was just too high to get a decent photo.

My second Diamond-back Moth of the year hiding on the ornamental Rabbit above my box!  

A female Red-necked Phalarope was seen on Salterns Marsh, Lymington, yesterday but flew off and was not reported again. Today, I was a bit disappointed that Portchester Crematorium held literally no moths at all. There was just one Common Marbled Carpet yesterday, but I could not find anything around the exit of the South Chapel and neither the Flower Bay. However, I was a lot more successful over The Oaks Crematorium where I found THREE Pale Tussock moths by Chapel exit and the Buff-tip moth was still present by the Book of Remembrance building yet again.

One of three Pale Tussock moths at The Oaks Crematorium and all relatively close to one another this afternoon.

A few Common Buzzards made the most of a glorious afternoon, sailing high within a clear blue sky as the temperatures climbed into the low 70’s. A House Martin was seen flying from a house as I was exiting Hayling Island this morning and when I was walking back home down my road, I saw plenty of Swifts overhead including one bird that actually flew into one of my Swift nest boxes. Yippee! A few top rarities are in the UK at present, including a stunning pale morph adult Eleonora’s Falcon at Worth Marsh in Kent and a Little Swift at Eltham in South-east London. I do hope both birds are around tomorrow as I am tempted to do a ‘twitch’!

Quieter in the moth box.

Wednesday 25th May 2022.

One of two White Ermine moths this morning by the box.

Another early rise (it gets earlier, 4.35am!!) and I really do hope I last the day at work, but one must suffer for their art it seems and to avoid the local House Sparrows devouring a lot of my catch, one must get up early before they raid my garden. Becky kindly bought me a new bird feeder for the garden, one that takes the sunflower hearts of which the Sparrows, Goldfinches and tits adore and will hopefully deter some of the Sparrows from my moths.

The immigrant moth, Dark Sword-grass was a welcome addition to my year list.

There were three moths that were new for the year, White Ermine, Dark Sword-grass and the micro moth, Pyrausta aurata; but numbers were much lower than Monday with just 24 moths of 17 species recorded. The following moths were recorded:

• 3 Bright-line Brown-eye
• 2 White Ermine (NFY)
• 1 Yellow-barred Brindle
• 1 Willow Beauty
• 2 Vines Rustic
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 1 Brimstone Moth 
• 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart
• 1 Dark Sword-grass (NFY)
• 1 Chrysoteuchia culmella
• 1 Tachystola acroxantha
• 3 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 1 Ephestia woodiella
• 1 Agonopterix arienella
• 1 Pyrausta aurata (NFY)
• 2 Lime-speck Pug
• 1 Common Pug

Pyrausta aurata.

Away from moths, a Vixen Fox was seen walking away along the back wall of my garden and onto a neighbours shed roof and away south! Some cracking birds recorded in the country yesterday including a superb Roller in Cornwall, the White-tailed Plover in Norfolk and a few Great Reed Warblers reported in the country including a probable in Hampshire, at the Hook-with-Warsash site; though it was not seen, it was picked up by its song.  

This magnificent Roller was at a place called Praze-an-Beeble. just south of Cambourne, Cornwall. I have only ever seen one Roller and that was a distant bird many years ago at Broxhead Common in North Hampshire. Photo by John Manley.

I found this Buff-tip moth by the Book of Remembrance building at The Oaks Crematorium this morning. There was also a Pug species present, but I think it was just a Common Pug. Not many birds of note in windy and drizzly weather, though a Common Buzzard was seen struggling against the wind and a Little Egret was seen flying near our Leigh Park branch off Dunsbury Way. Thirty years ago, this would have been classed as an amazing sighting, but they are simply everywhere now.  

More immigrants moths pour in.

Monday 23rd May 2022.

My first Pepper Moth for many a year.

I was up again very early (4.50am!) to go and check on my moth box and my God, I did not want to get up at all! Aching from a load of gardening and getting it all straight was tough on this old body and as this morning wore on, I felt a tad ‘under the weather’, but I persevered and went to work anyway, only to be yawning nearly all day!

I rarely get a Delicate moth in the Spring time; much more of an  Autumn moth. 

A Pearly Underwing moth was also a nice surprise, proving there must of been a lot of immigrant moths around last night.

There was another superb collection of moths this morning, which included 5 new for the year, though one moth eluded me on its identity and so I put a photo on Hants Moths Facebook page and sure enough, the Author of the site quickly came back with a Pearly Underwing. There seems to be a large influx of immigrant moths coming into the UK with a lot of Striped Hawk-moths being reported. This morning, immigrant moths I had in and around my moth box included Silver Y, Delicate, Rusty-dot Pearl and of course, the Pearly Underwing. 

The very common Chrysoteuchia culmella micro moth.

The Pepper Moth was a nice surprise as I have not had one in my box for a few years and my first Chrysoteuchia culmella of the year will probably signal an avalanche of this very common Grass Veneer species. The following moths were present in and around my moth box: 

• 3 Bright-line Brown-eye
• 3 Vines Rustic
• 1 Pepper Moth (NFY)
• 5 Brimstone Moth
• 8 Lime-speck Pug
• 2 Ephestia woodiella
• 3 Tachystola acroxantha
• 1 Delicate (NFY)
• 1 Yellow-barred Brindle
• 1 Common Marbled Carpet
• 1 Bee Moth (NFY)
• 5 Willow Beauty
• 1 Chrysoteuchia culmella (NFY)
• 1 Eudonia angustea
• 1 Pearly Underwing (NFY)
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 1 Agonopterix arenella
• 1 Brown House Moth
• 1 Heart & Dart
• 1 Silver Y
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow
• 1 Garden Pebble
• 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart
• 1 Angle Shades
• 1 Buff Ermine
• 1 Rusty-dot Pearl

Over at Portchester Crematorium today, I really struggled to find any moths around the Flower Bay and exit of the South Chapel. Singles of Garden Carpet, Eudonia angustea and Common Plume were all I could find. Even the birdlife was somewhat quiet with only a Green Woodpecker heard only in Kingston Cemetery that was of note.

Iberian Chiffchaff within Otterbourne Hill Wood.

Saturday 21st May 2022.

The Iberian Chiffchaff showing well singing high up in an Ash tree within Otterbourne Park Wood.

For well over a week now, a ‘putative’ Iberian Chiffchaff had been found within Otterbourne Park Wood and after days of discussion on the bird's biometrics and its song, the good news is it has now been confirmed as a true Iberian Chiffchaff. This would be a Hampshire ‘tick’ for both Andy and myself and so we took ourselves the 35 minute journey up there to view the bird on a pleasant sunny morning.

Heart & Dart moth. Another first for the year.

I checked Andy’s moth box, which was put on overnight and though the number of moths were small, the egg trays contained my first Heart & Dart moth of the year. Other moths present included 2 Common Pugs, 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart and 1 Brimstone Moth. The coffee was nice too which Andy had made while I laboured outside!

 

A Mistle Thrush seen while enjoying a coffee by the Otter Pub within the village.

 

Another photo of the showy Iberian Chiffchaff. I have only ever seen one of these species before and that was many years ago on the Isle of Portland. 

After getting the information to park near the Otter Pub within Otterbourne village, we made our way up Chapel Lane to enter the mostly deciduous Otterbourne Hill Wood. But where was the bird habiting within the woodland? Thankfully, with the power of Whatsapp rare birds group, a chap called John was already within the woodland and having seen the bird earlier in the day, he took us over to view the bird and within a few minutes, we were viewing our first Hampshire Iberian Chiffchaff. The bird has a very distinctive rattle call after the ‘Chiff-chaff’ bit and was easily noticeable, but to tell the difference between it and a Chiffchaff based on biometrics would have been impossible as the bird was quite up within an Ash tree. However, it did show relatively well as I managed to grab some half decent photos of it and a bit of video footage.

A well hungover Andy struggling to cope with the hills within the woodland.

Foxgloves were abundant within the woodland.

After ten minutes of so, we slowly made our way back up the hill, much to Andy’s suffering with his hangover (shame!) to exit the lovely wood behind us. We also saw a close Nuthatch within the woodland and several Long-tailed Tits, while Blackcaps, a Chiffchaff and a Bullfinch were all heard. Nearing the Otter Pub, we noticed that a Coffee Bar was by the car park and so Andy bought us breakfast as we enjoyed views of Swallow, Common Buzzard and a pair of Swifts overhead (the latter Andy missed and he still needs them for a ‘year-tick’ !). He had to be back by midday to pick his car up from the Garage and so we made our way back home with another species added to my year list, which currently stands at 186 species for the year so far.  Below, some video footage of the Iberian Chiffchaff singing.

Another 'lifer' moths added to my life list.

Friday 20th May 2022.

True Lovers Knot moth was a nice surprise and my second 'lifer' within a week!

Another very early start this morning (4.50am) to check the moth box I put on overnight resulted in a ‘lifer’! It wasn't till I was at the last egg tray when I turned it over and it revealed my first ever True Lovers Knot, which begs the question, how on earth did someone come up with this name for this moth? Truly baffling. I realised straight away I had something very interesting here and so very quickly got round to potting the moth so it would not fly off while photographing it. However, another very interesting Pug species eluded identification despite putting a photo of the moth on Hants Moths, only to be told that a better angle would be required to get a correct ID. The moth had promptly flown off before I could grab any more photos!

Willow Beauty.

Yellow-barred Brindle.

Right, a Buff-tip and to the left of it, a Bright-line Brown-eye.  

Pale Mottled Willow.

Never mind, I still got a ‘lifer’ and at least 10 more moths that were new for the year. The weather was very mild overnight and for a change, no thunderstorms or any rain either, which produced 40 moths of 21 species. The following moths were present in and around my moth box:

• 1 True Lovers Knot
• 5 Willow Beauty (NFY)
• 2 Yellow-barred Brindle (NFY)
• 5 Lime-Speck Pug
• 1 Buff Ermine (NFY)
• 1 Silver Y
• 3 Bright-Line Brown-eye
• 2 Garden Carpet
• 2 Common Marbled Carpet
• 1 Buff-tip (NFY)
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow (NFY)
• 1 Vines Rustic )NFY)
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character (NFY)
• 3 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 5 Tachystola acroxantha
• 1 Agonopterix arenella
• 1 Garden Pebble
• 1 Mompha subbistrigella (NFY)
• 1 Bryotropha affinis (NFY)
• 1 Ephestia woodiela (NFY)
• 
  

Vines Rustic.

Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Buff Ermine.

Most certainly, the most moths I have had this year to date and should it stay mild, I could possibly get some higher numbers. Of course, the Sparrows had a feast on some of my moths once I went back into the garden and I have been moaned at on Social Media by some morons  for not getting up early enough to check my moth box, hence getting up so early! That is why I am only ‘moth-ing’ just 3 days of the week. It's too knackering! I have put photos of the moths that were new for the year on today's entry.

A moth 'lifer' in my moth box yesterday.

Thursday 19th May 2022.

My first ever Fox Moth, a male, that was in my moth box this morning.

The last two evenings have witnessed some interesting thunderstorms and consequently put on quite an amazing light show should one stay up to witness it. Frankly, I have been too tired to stay up having to get up early for work (and my moth box!) and consequently working a full day and then continuing to paint my fence panels in the evening. Yesterday, I was up at 5am to check the moth box and I got a really nice surprise when I discovered quite a few moths that were new for the year. However, I was in for a real surprise when I found out that one was a ‘lifer’ for me! 

More photos of my first ever Fox Moth.

Again, one has to get up very early to avoid the local breeding House Sparrows taking advantage of an easy breakfast on my moths and so bleary eyed, cup of coffee in hand, I then go about recording the moths in and around my moth box. The following moths were present this morning:

• 1 Fox Moth (male) (LIFER)
• 1 Common Marbled Carpet
• 1 Bright-line Brown-eye
• 1 Small Dusty Wave (NFY)
• 2 Lime-speck Pug (NFY)
• 1 Common Pug
• 1 Brimstone Moth
• 1 Willow Beauty (NFY)
• 1 Silver Y (NFY)
• 1 Vestal (NFY)
• 1 Common Plume
• 1 Garden Pebble (NFY)
• 2 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 3 Tachystola acroxantha
• 1 Eudonia angustea
• 1 Platyedra subcinera (NFY)
• 1 Agonopterix arenella (NFY)

Silver Y.

One of two Lime-speck Pugs.

The immigrant micro moth Diamond-back Moth.

I have to say, despite some very heavy showers overnight, I was really happy with that haul of moths, especially when at least 7 of them were new for the year. However, I was in for a real surprise later in the evening when an expert eye noticed that I had originally put a moth photo of a Lackey. It was re-identified by moth expert Ben Dale as a male Fox Moth, a species I have never seen before! Apparently, it was too early for Lackey’s to arrive yet and Ben concluded I was very lucky to get one in my moth box as males rarely are attracted to light. 

Garden Pebble.

Agonopterix arenella.

Small Dusty Wave.

Off the subject of moths, the drive over Portsdown Hill on the way to Portchester Crematorium during my working hours produced a Peregrine flying south high over the Hill and also a male Kestrel hovering near the roadside. Today, a few Common Buzzards were noted, including a displaying bird high over Catherington Cemetery and a Blue Tit was using a very ornamental nest box within the Cemetery as well. The Kestrel was seen again as I drove over Portsdown Hill but very little else apart from a few Skylarks near the roadside by Skew Road.

Platyedra subsinera.

Vestal.

Rustic Shoulder-knot moth at Portchester Crematorium this morning.

Checking for moths around around Portchester Crematorium, I found my first Rustic Shoulder-knot of the year hiding away behind one of the doors by the South Chapel exit. I also found a Bloxworth Snout high up in the same area, but it would not play ball and remained too high up to get a decent photo of the moth. Sadly, apart from a Large White butterfly by the Flower Bay, there were no other moths present around the Flower Bay.

Large White butterfly at Portchester Crematorium this morning. 

Eupeodes species of Hoverfly on my moth box yesterday morning.

Very interesting bird news comes from the Romsey area where it has been confirmed that a pair of Dippers have nested on the River Test. Due to possible disturbance, it has been safe to say that the exact location is being kept secret at present, but hopefully will be disclosed at a later date so most Hampshire birders can get their ‘County tick’ no doubt……..including me! Cracking news though, nonetheless.

The Dipper on the River Test. Photo by Andy Tew.