From top to bottom: Muslin Hebrew Character Nut-tree Tussock

Dug out the actinic for the 1st time in nearly a month & trapped 10:8 on a cool & clear night in Southampton.

Acrylic sketch of one of today’s Lesser spots.

Misty morning trees with a layer of dead Braken in the foreground.

A cracking couple of hours birding in the #NewForest on a misty morning. Lots of activity and a decent dawn chorus. Highlights incl pr of LSWs, 15+ xbills, 12+ Stonechats & Dartford W. Best of all was a Woodcock which silently lifted from a forest stream and jinked off thro the trees. #HantsBirds

4-0 to the CB for me. 😟 I'm hoping it'll sing more as spring progresses.

Quality Larids D & L.

It's filling up nicely. 🙂

Three Suffolk Shrikes - I have a signed, limited edition giclee print of a painting of the 3 rare shrikes in Suffolk this autumn (Isabelline, Turkestan and Brown). Just 50 available and only £50 window mounted (add £12 for P&P): PM me if interested and please repost, thanks

Skomer Island guided birdwatching trips 2026, an update!

Anticipating that boat/landing tickets will go on sale on 1st December, if you'd like to book a place on one of my day trips you need to get in touch soon. Availability on scheduled dates as follows:

A cold & relatively clear dawn on the Hants coast prompted a bit of vizmiggging at Brownwich with 848 birds of 10 spp moving west up to 10:00. 72 Redpolls was a good count for here. Also 250+ Brents offshore. #HantsBirds

Black Rustic & Barred Sallow. A couple of autumn classics.

Swallowtail. 1st garden record in October.

1st trap in the Southampton garden for a month produced 30:19. Standard seasonal stuff, but incl the 1st October Swallowtail. #MothsMatter

Nice catch, Andy!

Pearly Underwing the best of the moths so far.

Great to be back on @skokholmisland.bsky.social after far too long. A Sab's gull on the boat over was great start. Plenty of birds on the move this morning & it feels rare.

Beautiful Hook-tip

1st trapping session in the Southampton garden since 25th Aug was predictably modest with just 43:18. Cypress Pug NFY & Rusty Dot Pearl the only migrant. 4 L-album Wainscots were also quite noteworthy.

I've only had 4 Box Moths in Southampton this year, Steve. Numbers dropped sharply in 2023 so (hopefully?) You'll see a similar sharp decline in the next few years.

Standard fare in the Southampton trap this morning with a modest 78:31. The exception was this pristine Scarce Bordered Straw - only the 2nd garden record. #mothsmatter @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

Back on the Brownwich patch for the 1st time this autumn. Precious few signs of migration but some loafing Meds produced 7 colour rings read. Beast of the day was a Stoat zipping across in front of me. #HantsBirds

Likewise. Just about long enough to prop on your knees if you didn't have a tripod.

Small Heath added to the Southampton garden list taking it to 22 species.

A couple of caterpillars found by @EdgellerGilly in the garden today. Bright-line Brown-eye taking liberties with the tomatoes & Toadfax Brocade.

Dark Sword Grass

White Point

Broad-Bordered Yellow Underwing. Quite scarce this year.

Another modest haul from the Southampton trap with 86:38. Several NFYs incl Dark Sword Grass, White Point & N. molliculana. Also 7 Crossbills flying over. #teammoth

Surprisingly modest in Southampton too with only 64:33. Cabbage & Hawthorn were NFY with nothing else of note.

Old Lady. Disappeared into the house & will hopefully reappear tonight.

A few of the Jersey Tigers.

229:72 in the Southampton trap this morning incl 29 Jersey Tigers. Ethmia quadrillella NFG & several nfy incl Old Lady and E. foenella. 1 each of Silver Y, Diamondback & Rusty Dot Pearl the only migrants.

131:70 in Southampton this morning. 4-spotted Footman & a pair of Ears probably the pick of the bunch.

119:51 in Southampton overnight. NFYs included Copper Underwing, Ruby Tiger & Tree-lichen Beauty.

A very fresh Large Emerald

Scorched Carpet - a rare garden visitor.

275:83 in the Soton trap this morning. 7 nfy incl Large Emerald & Scorched Carpet (rare here). 1 each of Silver Y, Rush Veneer & Diamondback the only migrants.

Hopefully our time will come.

Largest garden catch of the year with 205:79 in Southampton. Hollyhock Seed Moth nfg & a dozen nfy including this Eyed Hawk. No sign of any migrants. #TeamMoth

Moderate.... hmm...

My 11 year old ELs went back to Swarovski in March and came back good as new in 5 weeks. All done under warranty so no charge.

96:33 after a cool and blustery night in Southampton. 7 NFYs including Black Arches & Swallowtail Moth.