Up early(ish) to check the moth trap and a decent amount of noisy Med Gulls overhead enjoying invisible inverts.
A few moths were on the fence and I popped off a few pictures before dealing with the electrics. Having hoped for this day for some years I was really chuffed to find the first moth on the top-most eggbox was a pristine Striped Hawkmoth!! Not just a first for the garden or trap but a full blown lifer!! This more than made up for a small amount of the usual suspects. Much later in the day, having been out and about, I doubled checked my camera before clearing the card only to find the first picture of the day was another lifer, albeit the far less spectacular and commoner Buttoned Snout.
Social media has had plenty of Striped Hawkmoth pictures in recent days but the rural farwest or Portland Bill seems a much better bet than a strip of concrete in urban Portsmouth.
Took advantage of the last day on my GWH membership and was pleased to bump into CP who showed me some really nice photos of recent moths there including Shears, a species I've never seen.
A stroll around the grounds in very fine weather wasn't exactly heaving with bugs but at least provided some new-for-years; Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Chrysotoxum cautum, Chrysotoxum bicinctum, Yellow Shell, Painted Lady and lots of White Helleborine.
Birds were typically thin with just a few Swifts, displaying Buzzards and two, heard-only Firecrests.
P.S. A Rusty Dot Pearl in the trap was another potential immigrant.
