My first Marbled Minormoth of the year last night. I released it early this morning back into the garden.
A grey and mild start to the day at 6am this morning as I went about checking my Moth Box and the surrounding area. Thankfully, I had checked out the Moth Box thoroughly, just in time before heavy rain set in and so it was a very wet start on my first shift in Pembroke Road this morning. Wonderful, NOT! The only saving grace is that it saved me from watering the garden tonight although thunderstorms are predicted in the north of the County later today.
Four more 'macro' moths were added to my year list this morning which included the following from top to bottom: Rusty-dot Pearl, Blushed Knot-horn, Brown House Moth and Glasswort Case-bearer.
The Moth Box:
I had SIX new moths for the year this morning, which included a finely marked Marbled Minor, of which I had potted last night and checked it thoroughly this morning for a proper ID. They are an annual ‘macro’ moth to my moth box and come in various guises. The rest of the new moths for the year were all ‘micro’s’ . Pick of the bunch has to be the Glasswort Case-bearer that was perched on one of the egg trays. I think I have only ever seen one of these before and that was some time ago. A large Brown House Moth was perched on my kitchen window and dutifully released from the moth pot this morning. Blushed Knot-horn (which has recently had a name change for one reason or another) was another regular ‘micro’ to my moth box and nice to see my first one of the year. The final new moth for the year was an immigrant, but very common, ‘micro’ moth, the Rusty-dot Pearl. Up to four Willow Beauties is a good number though they will later be in double-figures I expect. Four species of Pug on show this morning, which is always a challenge for this family of moths.
The following moths were present this morning:
Marbled Minor (New for Year)
Bright-line Brown-eye 5
Freyer’s Pug
Willow Beauty 4
Double-striped Pug
Garden Carpet
Common Pug 2
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Lime-speck Pug
Brown House Moth (NFY)
Dark Moss-moth
Blushed Knot-horn (NFY)
Rusty-dot Pearl (NFY)
Ruddy Streak 8
White-shouldered House Moth
Black Cloak 2
Glasswort Case-bearer (NFY)
Triple-barred Tip Moth
Light Brown Apple Moth 5
My first Daisy Leafminer of the year on my kitcken roof this morning.
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
On my first shift today, in the pouring rain, there were just 11 bird species recorded in total; the best being a Grey Heron flying over heading westbound over towards Portsmouth Harbour. When I got home, after putting the two moths I caught out in the garden, my kitchen roof had the very distinctive Daisy Leafminer walking across it! A cracking well-marked little insect that always arrives in my kitchen or garden at this time of year. Earlier today, a pair of Bee-eaters were reported flying over Christchurch, Dorset and on Pennington Marshes, a pair of Roseate Terns were seen again and up to three drake Garganey were present too.
Above, a Water Vole on the Canal Path at Titchfield. Filmed by Emma & Matt Parkes yesterday. Below, this Little Egret was by Canoe Lake, Southsea, this afternoon while Becky and I were looking after our Granddaughter, Isabelle. The bird has been a regular to this site and does allow a very close approach.
My first Common Whitethroat I have seen in Highland Road Cemetery. One of two birds that were present there this morning.
After last nights and early morning downpour, there was a fresh feel to the weather first thing this morning and as the day wore on, the sun was out, but still quite a bit cooler than the weekend with a breezy southerly onshore wind. It was back to Old Portsmouth first thing this morning, but when I finished, I took the dogs for their walk around Highland Road Cemetery where I was in luck with a ‘patch tick’ in the form of a Common Whitethroat. Not one, but two were found!
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
Another fairly quiet day at Pembroke Road where just 13 species were noted from both shifts there. The Swifts overhead showed well in the morning, but absent in the afternoon. The pair of Pied Wagtails were back on the Bowling Green early this morning and on the insect front, a few Bees were nectaring on the newly emerged garden flowers nearby. I had to pop over nearby Somerstown for an hour and in that time, the alarm calls of Starlings alerted me that a female Sparrowhawk was flying over the rooftops. I was glad to see several Swifts high over the rooftops too. I just might go exploring if they are looking for nest sites around this area.
Above, it is now 'No Mow May' within the Cemetery. Below, I came across this Common Whitethroat at the start of my walk around the Cemetery.
I returned to where I saw the first Common Whitethroat but this time, he was a little more elusive in the brambles.
Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:
As mentioned, there were two Common Whitethroats present in the Cemetery this morning, which took me by surprise; but I suppose it was a ‘patch tick’ just waiting to finally appear. This species can turn up in the most strangest places and when I found a singing male on the west side of the Cemetery just as I started to make my way round, I was more than happy and it even was obliging enough to pop out and show itself nicely. Incredibly, a second bird was heard sub-singing deep within a bush roughly in the centre of the Cemetery, but this individual would not show itself this time. I have now seen 80 bird species on my ‘local patch’ in the 14 years I have been recording the wildlife here; not that bad considering it is only 18 acres in size.
Above, Herb Bennet is now growing all over the Cemetery and below, I liked this photo of a Robin with the purple background of Ivy-leaved Toadflax in the background.
Above, Starlings were busy searching for food in the long grass for their fledgelings. Below, this Speckled Wood was seen basking in the morning sunshine.
Good numbers of Swifts were overhead and it is always a challenge to try to get a reasonable photo of them using my Bridge Camera. All the usual birds were present here, though, surprisingly, I never saw any Great Tits today. They probably were there, but hidden in the tops of the trees I expect. Butterflies on show today included a single Speckled Wood and at least four or five Holly Blue’s. Plenty of Batman Hoverflies around as well throughout the sheltered areas of the Cemetery. It is now ‘No Mow May’ and a lot of the area has a lot of tall grass growing, though I did see a few areas where the Council workers have cut the grass. It should be interesting over the next week or two on how high the grass and what it could attract. I’m looking forward to that.
Above, a male Blackbird basking in the sunshine and below, a pair of Holly Blue butterflies.
Above and below, Swifts over the Cemetery.
The birds recorded here today included the following:
Herring Gull
Black-headed Gull
Wood Pigeon
Feral Pigeon
Collared Dove
Common Whitethroat 2 (patch tick)
Blue Tit
Robin
Wren
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
House Sparrow
Starling
Swift
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Blackbird
Above, a Batman Hoverfly bathing in the sunshine and below, another Swift sailing overhead.
Above, this Charlock Mustard plant was growing in the Cemy. I am not sure I have ever seen them here before. Below, I have not a clue what this is. Some sort of fungi I think? It was growing on a Silver Birch tree.
In Hampshire today, the ‘Sea-watchers’ at Cut Bridge, near New Milton, recorded both Arctic and Great Skua through and up to 7 Manx Shearwaters passing through eastbound. Another Arctic Skua was seen harassing Terns again off Sandy Point. I had a coffee with one of my friends in the Coffee Cup restaurant at Eastney. While there, I noticed a lot of Sandwich Terns going through close along the shoreline and several pairs of Med Gulls were patrolling the shoreline too. With the excellent seating arrangement at the Coffee Cup, I am wondering if it is a good spot to do some early morning Sea-watching there?
Above, always entertaining, the Swifts were busy chasing each other screeching high over the Cemetery throughout my walk this morning.
My Moth Box was on again overnight and as the days are getting warmer, this should in turn, bring out a nice variety of moths to my garden and thankfully, there was. Another 5 more ‘New for Year’ were added to my ever growing year list and pick of the bunch was a fine Dark Spectaclemoth, a species that closely resembles the more common Spectacle. Immigrant moths included up to 4SilverY moths (one was outside our front window yesterday!) and many are being recorded on the Butterfly Facebook sites too. Turnip Mothcould possibly be an immigrant moth, but Freyer’s Pug and Small Dusty Wave are regular moths to my garden. Finally, the Triple-barred Tip Moth (Argyresthia trifasciata) was also new for the year. Not only extremely small, it is a very colourful tiny moth. Just a shame my mobile phone camera does not do it justice. The moths present this morning included the following:
Dark Spectacle (New for Year)
Angle Shades
Common Pug
Freyer’s Pug (NFY)
Silver Y 4
Turnip Moth (NFY)
Brimstone Moth 3
Small Dusty Wave (NFY)
Willow Beauty
Pale Mottled Willow
Garden Carpet 2
Light Brown Apple Moth 5
Ruddy Streak
White-shouldered House Moth 2
Triple-barred Tip Moth (NFY)
Above, Freyer's Pug and below, Triple-barred Tip Moth.
Above, Small Dusty Wave and below a Turnip Moth.
Birding News:
Birding pal Geoff Farwell was birding in the north of the County yesterday (site withheld for obvious reasons) and sent me a text last night to say that he saw a female Harrier species on his walk. Describing it in detail, he discussed it with the County Recorder and it was most likely a Hen / Pallid hybrid, which are becoming more common on the Continent. Also, he saw 3 singing Corn Buntings, Wheatear, 2 Common Whitethroat,2 Blackcap, 2 Red Kite and 3 Common Buzzards. In Hampshire today, fellow ‘Lazee’ Gary Fennemore enjoyed watching a pair of Arctic Skua harassing Terns off Sandy Point. Off Cut Bridge, by Milford-on-sea, up to 21 Manx Shearwaters passed through but headed off around the Isle of Wight and a pale phased Pomarine Skua also passed along with 2 Arctic Terns. Both Arctic Skua and Great Skua were also noted. Rain was coming in late today which will help my plants I planted in my garden over the weekend and it could be good for sea-watching tomorrow with this weather front passing through.
One of the majestic views in the New Forest today. This was from Acres Down.
I suppose I should be grateful for having a good haul of moths this morning in my garden, but missing the Northern Lights last night took the edge off it. Facebook was plastered with people I know who saw and took photos of it late last night as the phenomenon was seen all over the UK and I was fast asleep! Becky and I went to Iceland to see the Northern Lights and it was overcast during the four days/nights we stayed there!! Never mind, I still had a damn good days birding and backed up with some nice moths and superb weather. It was another ‘blinder’ of a day with both Geoff Farwell and Andy Fisher.
Above, the Aurora borealis last night and I bloody missed it! Fume! Photo by Joanne Rivers. Below, my first Treble Lines moth of the year at Andy's garden. I have never seen one in this guise before.
Above, the macro moth White Ermine. Below, the micro Dark Moss Moth. Both new for the year.
Above, the micro moth Black Cloak and below, the macro moth Lime-speck Pug. Both, again, new for the year.
The Moth Boxes:
There were 22 moths of 13 species recorded this morning in and around my moth box at 5.30am and I am wondering now should I get up earlier to see any that I might have missed at first light? It does mean sleep deprivation, but at least the local Sparrows are not attacking my moths for their breakfast yet. When their young hatch, that's when the Sparrows arrive! Among the moths, new for the year included my first Lime-speck Pugs and aWhite Ermine.The micro moths Black Cloak and Dark Moss Moth were also present; both resting on top of the rain guard. The following moths were present in my garden this morning:
Brimstone Moth 3
Double-striped Pug 2
Lime-speck Pug 2 (New for Year)
Common Pug
Bright-line Brown-eye 2
Vine’s Rustic
Least Black Arches
White Ermine (NFY)
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Black Cloak (Notocelia cynosbatella) (NFY)
Dark Moss Moth (Bryotropha cynosbatella) (NFY)
Light Brown Apple Moth 4
Ruddy Streak 2
Meanwhile, over at Andy’s moth trap, there were very few moths present, which was very disappointing. However, he did have my first Treble Lines moth of the year, though a very strange individual too. Other moths included 2 Light Brown Apple Moth and a Ruddy Streak.
After checking the moths in my garden, I relaxed for a while enjoying a cup of coffee and checked the birds going over my house that included a House Martin (probably just arrived this morning) plus a few Linnets and Goldfinches going over. The Swifts are a regular feature now and are always entertaining soaring overhead with a clear blue sky background. Gorgeous. While checking Andy’s moth box and also enjoying another cup of coffee, Geoff and I noticed a large number of Starlings getting rattled by something and with them were a good number of juvenile birds too! Dunnocks were singing from the rooftops as was the delicious sound of a singing Blackbird close by. My Hampshire Rare Birds App suddenly kicked into life and it turned out that a White-winged Black Tern had been found on Pennington Marshes, but it eventually flew off eastbound, Low and behold, it flew all along the coast and was seen by a bunch of ‘Lazee’s’ off Sandy Point and then finally being seen passing Selsey Bill!
Above, the humble Robin often gets overlooked while trying to find the 'special' birds here in the New Forest. Below, a singing male Firecrest high up in a Beech tree not too far from the main car park.
Acres Down, New Forest:
My target species today was the Wood Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher within the woods at this superb area of the Forest and then a good scan over the woodland from the viewpoint for possible Honey Buzzard and other raptors. We parked up in the small car park and made our way through the woodland, enjoying a superb singing male Firecrest high up in a Beech Tree. On reaching a large clearing, here we enjoyed a variety of birds that included singing Redstart, Tree Pipit, Woodlark, Mistle Thrush and even several Common Crossbills were seen. Both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff were singing also by the clearing; the latter now is becoming increasing scarce and the County recorder now needs exact locations of Willow Warblers on where seen or heard singing. A couple of Cuckoos were heard singing nearby, but no sightings of them this morning. A Common Buzzard flew over the northern end of the clearing and quickly flew off over the woodland.
Above, this pair of Common Crossbills sat in this Silver Birch out in the middle of the clearing and more were seen flying over the clearing. Below, Geoff found good numbers of Sundew plants growing near the footpath.
Above, a singing Tree Pipit was on the edge of the clearing and below, quite a few Brown Silver-line Moths were on the wing throughout the Forest.
Eagle-eyed Geoff found a large clump of Sundew plants growing on the heath close by the main footpath. I have not seen Sundew plants for many years and so promptly grabbed a few photos of this superb plant. I found a lot of daytime moths fluttering around that included both Common Heath and Brown Silver-lines on the heath, mostly being scattered by our footfalls as we made our way along the footpath. We bumped into a fellow birder who told us where to look for the Wood Warblers and eventually we came to the site where we both heard and eventually saw two birds (we believe a male and a female bird) chasing each other through the canopy of some Beech and Silver Birch trees; but too quick to grab a photo. This species had seriously declined recently with only nine reported territories in the whole of the New Forest last year! Very sad. Apparently, we found out that most of the birds recorded in the New Forest are colour ringed and I remember one bird that was photographed last year was plastered with rings on its legs!!! I will not give the exact location of the bird for there have been reports of bird photographers (toggers) chasing the birds to get a decent photo, something I completely disagree with. Someone asked me yesterday where I saw our birds and I replied as vaguely as possible without being rude.
Above, several Brimstone butterflies were seen along our walk in the woodland at Acres Down and below, another moth seen in numbers was this Common Heath.
Above, this gorgeous male Redstart was seen within the woods and below, a female Siskin was on the main footpath, probably picking out small grit to help digestion.
One of the male Redstarts singing at Acres Down today.
In the same woodland as the Wood Warblers, we found a cracking male Redstart, low down this time perched on a large log and good numbers of Siskins seen including a lovely female bird on the main footpath. After completing our circuit around the woodland of Acres Down, we had a quick spot of lunch by the car and a quick check on the ‘Lazee’s’ Whatsapp, we found out that a flock of four Black Terns were on Ibsley Water at Blashford Lakes! I really didn't fancy spending a few hours exposed on the heath searching for raptors in the heathaze over the woodland and so offered the guys a choice: that or Black Terns. It was a no-brainer!
Above, one of the Black Terns on Ibsley Water and being 'photo bombed' by a Black-headed Gull and a Sand Martin. Below, a pair of Common Terns in front of the Tern Hide.
Above and below, one of the four Black Terns in flight over Ibsley Water.
Above, another photo of the gorgeous Black Tern. I don't often see them in Spring and so I had to go and take the drive to see the birds. Below, a Common Blue Damselfly just outside the Tern Hide.
One of the Black Terns in front of the Tern Hide at Ibsley Water.
Ibsley Water, Blashford Lakes:
Traffic was building up going into Ringwood, but eventually we made our way north up to Blashford Lakes and having had to park near the main road due to tomorrow's Triathlon event, we walked to the Tern Hide and joined a near packed Hide all enjoying the four gorgeous Black Terns on show. Three of the Black Terns were busy hawking for insects over the calm water while another bird perched on one of the posts. There were some serious camera lenses taking hundreds of photos from the guys in front of us, enjoying some gorgeous Black Terns in front of them. There were also good numbers of Common Terns present too along with a good flock of 6 Great Crested Grebes in front of the Hide and with Sand Martins and Swallows darting about over the water; what's not to love? Even some waders were present that included a pair of Common Sandpipers and Geoff found a Little Ringed Plover on the embankment to the north. Happy with Black Tern on our year list, we made our way back to the car, but not before Geoff had a chat with fellow birder and ecologist, Simon Colenutt. While he was chatting to him, a Common Blue Damselfly landed on the ground nearby and so I took a few photos of the beautiful insect. Nearing the car, a pair of male Garden Warblers were singing deep within a bush, though I did see one fly briefly to add to a superb day total.
Above, a male Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly in Salisbury Trench Wood and below, one of the many Smooth Newts we found in the puddles by the main footpath within the woodland.
Salisbury Trench Wood, Longcross, nr Fritham;
I still had Spotted Flycatcher on my mind and having seen them in Salisbury Trench Wood last year with Andy, I thought I would try my luck here to round off another superb day's birding. We stopped off briefly at the Garage in Fordingbridge for a refreshing Ice lolly and then made our way through Godshill, slowly going past some Donkeys with their foal and some Ponies and always keeping to the 40mph speed limit! Walking downhill along the footpath through Salisbury Trench Wood, we eventually got onto the main large footpath and headed north. I didn't have a lot of time here and so cut it short to around 30 minutes. But in that time, we had a superb male Goshawk fly over our heads and off over the woodland! Redstarts could be heard singing in the distance as were a few Chiffchaffs. Some Siskins were also seen high up in the conifers including a couple of male birds doing their display flight. Beautiful. We checked out the large puddles by the edge of the footpath, we found a lot of Smooth Newts within them, which were fascinating and held our attention for some time. Along the edge of the footpath, Foxglove plants were springing up all over the place and some were just about to come into flower and a few Bugle plants were found as well.
And so another great day's birding came to an end as we made our way back home reflecting on not only two new birds for our respective year list, but a variety of superb wildlife sightings.
The last word goes to this superb photo taken by Emma Parkes today of the Black Terns on Ibsley Water. Just stunning.
