PORTLAND MIGRANTS AND A DEVONSHIRE WAINSCOT FINALE

I stayed down in Oxfordshire this weekend instead of heading back home to Cheshire, as the weather was looking great, so I arranged to do some moth trapping with my good friend Alan Lewis on Portland in Dorset.

Me in the sun, arriving in Portland

We met up on Friday night at Freshwater Bay in Portland and set out seven traps along the coastline, hoping to catch a few migrant moths.

Freshwater Bay, Portland

As soon as the sun went down, the traps were switched on.

By morning, we'd had a brilliant night. Silver Y moths were well into the two hundreds, unbelievable numbers.

We had also trapped seven Striped Hawk-moths, but the highlight was a moth I never thought I'd get there, a Rosy Underwing. It was first spotted perched on a cliff before we managed to pot it.

Striped Hawk-moth

Rosy Underwing

The Rosy Underwing is a rare autumn visitor to the British Isles, with only a small number of records, mostly along the south coast during September. Since 2002, it has occurred in the Channel Islands with some regularity and may even be becoming established there. In Europe, it occurs in central and southern regions, where it inhabits mixed woodland.

We trapped some cracking moths during the night...

Purple Marbled

Tree Lichen Beauty

NI Moth

Cresent Dart

Scarce Bordered Straw

Pearly underwing

Bordered Straw

By daybreak, we made our way to the Portland Bird Observatory, where Martin Cade, the warden, had also set out several traps overnight. There were birds everywhere as well, and I couldn't believe my eyes when we scoped out to sea. We counted about 550 Mediterranean Gulls bobbing around on the water. Unbelievable! It was the biggest colony I'd ever seen in Britain.

Mediterranean Gulls

(c)Martin Cade

Martin had also trapped some cracking moths overnight, and I was finally about to join the Eastern Bordered Straw Club. What a moth!

Eastern Bordered Straw

This rare immigrant was unknown in Britain until 1958, when three appeared during a larger influx into Europe. Since then, there have only been a handful of records, although the big influx in 2006 more than doubled the total number ever recorded in Britain. Other moths trapped of note were:

Cosmopolitan

White-speck

With Portland done, our next plan of action was to meet up with Cambridgeshire moth-er Mark Howes at Bolberry Down in Devon to try and trap the Devonshire Wainscot.

After the drive down, I had to get some sleep in the van, as I'd been awake for the best part of 24 hours. After a good afternoon's sleep and some food, I felt refreshed and ready to go again.

Between us, we set up nine moth traps along the coastline, but things weren't looking great.

A weather front had moved in from the west; it had started raining, and the wind had really picked up. We trapped a few moths, but nothing like the numbers we'd hoped for. On the final walk around at first light, it looked like we were going to dip on the Devonshire Wainscot.

I wandered over to the trap I'd tucked under a cliff out of the worst of the wind. I opened it up and, lo and behold... There it was!

A Devonshire Wainscot.

At the end, we'd managed to trap one. Get in!

Devonshire Wainscot

The Devonshire Wainscot is a local species found mainly around the coasts of south-west England and south Wales. It inhabits grassy cliffs and coastal grassland, with the larvae feeding on a range of grasses.

What a great weekend with some brilliant company, loads of quality moths, and a few very special lifers thrown in for good measure. The Rosy Underwing was never on my radar, and finishing the trip with a Devonshire Wainscot made it even sweeter.

Roll on the next adventure!

JUNIPER PUG MOTH -ASHTON UPTHORPE DOWNS-OXFORDSHIRE

This evening, I visited Ashton Updown Downs hoping to trap one particular species that I still needed for my list – the Juniper Pug. 

Ashton Updown Downs is one of the few remaining large areas of chalk grassland in the Berkshire Downs and is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The downland grassland that once covered much of the Downs is now largely confined to the steeper slopes, making sites like this nationally important for nature conservation. 

Ashton Updown Downs

The reserve is also home to the largest stand of juniper scrub in the Berkshire Downs and Chilterns. Juniper, our only native conifer, has become increasingly scarce.

Juniper

I set the trap up just before dusk and settled in for what turned into a three-hour moth session.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for the trap to produce exactly what I had come for. Sitting amongst the first arrivals was a Juniper Pug, my target species and another welcome addition to my list. 

The Juniper Pug is a fairly distinctive moth, usually a dark brownish-grey species that is closely associated with chalk and limestone districts. However, it can also be found in parks, gardens, and suburban habitats where ornamental conifers are planted. It flies in a single generation between July and September, with the caterpillars feeding on juniper (Juniperus), including garden varieties, as well as other cultivated conifers.

Finding it so early in the session was a real bonus and made the evening worthwhile almost immediately.

A BIRDER’S ROLLERCOASTER: MISSES, MOANS AND MAGIC MOMENTS

The afternoon of 13 July started with a report coming through of a Spur-winged Lapwing at Cavenham Heath in Suffolk. The news was unconfirmed, but the report that it was displaying to nearby Northern Lapwings was enough to get the heart racing.

I was still smarting from not being able to go for the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater on Papa Westray, Orkney, which had been found the day before. Unfortunately, work commitments meant I couldn’t make the journey north, with the following day already tied up. It was one of those moments where birding takes second place to reality, but that didn’t make it any easier!

So instead, I headed over to Suffolk to try my luck with the Spur-winged Lapwing. On arrival, I met up with Steve Gantlett and Neil Bostock, but there was no sign of the bird. We searched and waited, but as the afternoon wore on, there was still nothing.

I stayed until dusk with Steve, hoping that at any moment the bird would appear, but it just wasn’t meant to be. As the light faded, the thoughts of Papa Westray were still nagging away at me.

Bloody work! Any other day, and I would have been heading north.

The next morning, I woke up and, as expected, the photos eventually started appearing across social media. My good friend Sam Viles had done what every birder hopes to do; he had moved quickly and connected with the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater.

Fair play to him!

What a bird!

(c)Sam Viles

That was the real kick in the teeth. A bird I desperately wanted to see had slipped through my fingers, and then another incredible thing happened.

Over the weekend, news broke of a first-summer Long-tailed Shrike in a remote area of Gloucestershire. Even more frustratingly, the bird had apparently been present since 8 July, and it was a different individual from the one at Crail, Fife, which I had seen the previous week.

Not only that, it was only around twenty minutes from where I had been staying while working for the last couple of months.

Unbelievable!

You put in the miles, chase birds all over the country, and then another one appears almost on your doorstep. That’s birding for you!

Anyway, moan over. That’s exactly why we twitch. The highs, the lows, the missed chances, and those unforgettable moments when everything finally comes together.

Then came Monday morning.

My mate Steve Tomlinson arrived at work with a big smile on his face and that look birders know all too well.

“You coming to see another one this afternoon?”

After finishing work, we jumped in the car and made the short drive to Eastleach Martin. The result? Absolutely fantastic views of the Long-tailed Shrike.

(c) Adrian Webb

Standing there watching it, I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Two Long-tailed Shrikes in the space of a month, something I never would have dreamed possible.

From the frustration of missing the bee-eater to the sheer joy of watching another Long-tailed Shrike just down the road, it summed up everything that makes birding so addictive.

You take the knocks, you suffer the misses, but then you get moments like this.

And that’s why I keep going.

PENSYCHNANT ASHWORTH'S RUSTIC WEEKEND 2026

Our annual pilgrimage to Pensychnant Nature Reserve nearly didn’t happen this year after a devastating wildfire swept across Sychnant Mountain earlier in the week. The fire destroyed around 230 acres of heathland, leaving much of the mountain blackened and inaccessible. Sadly, this meant our planned search for the rare Ashworth’s Rustic on the mountain had to be cancelled.

Utter devastation

Thankfully, the event itself was back on, though trapping could only take place around the nature reserve, not on the mountain.

Not wanting to miss the chance of seeing this iconic Welsh moth, Jenna and I headed into Snowdonia and found an alternative site to trap for the night.

Three traps were put out around Llyn Ogwen

It turned out to be well worth the effort, with over 20 Ashworth’s Rustic coming to the traps by morning. 

Morning mist over Llyn Ogwen

We took several back to Pensychnant so visitors could enjoy seeing this incredible species up close.

Pensychnant Nature Reserve

The Ashworth's rustic is a very localised species, occurring only in the mountainous regions of North Wales, where it inhabits slate and limestone hills. 

The single generation flies between June and August, when it comes to light.

It was great to catch up with familiar faces and meet new ones throughout the day.

Marc congratulated me on saving the day by trapping the Ashworths Rustic

Alongside the Ashworths Rustic, there were over 50 species of moths on display, including Clearwings, Hawkmoths, and a fantastic selection of micros and macros. The gallery was once again filled with beautiful wildlife artwork, and, as always, there was plenty of tea, cake, and moth chat.

Best bit of the day: Karen's homemade cakes.

A huge thank you to Julian, Karen, and all the volunteers for making the weekend possible despite everything that had happened. Considering the circumstances, it was a brilliant event and one we’ll certainly remember

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MISSION COMPLETE – ALL 16 BRITISH CLEARWINGS SEEN

Well, after two years of trying for Raspberry Clearwing, I was scrolling through Facebook when a guy called Jean posted in the Clearwing Moths Facebook group that he had trapped one near the Chilterns-Oxfordshire. As soon as I saw the post, I messaged Jean, and after several texts back and forth, we made plans to visit the site.

Jean had found this site by exploring the local woodlands around where he lives, looking for patches of wild raspberry. It wasn't somewhere I would ever have thought of looking.

Wild Raspberries

As soon as we put out the pheromone lure, a Raspberry Clearwing came straight in before flying off again. We walked further down the woodland ride, and another came into the lure. Finally, one flew into the trap, giving us brilliant views.

Raspberry Clearwing

(c) Jean-Paul Brouard

I honestly couldn't believe I had finally seen one. I had spent countless hours searching around allotments over the last couple of years, thinking that was where I'd eventually find one, yet here in this woodland were several small colonies tucked away amongst the wild raspberry. It just shows that sometimes thinking outside the box really does pay off.

The Raspberry Clearwing has a remarkably long life cycle, spending up to two years as a larva feeding inside the roots and lower stems of raspberry canes before pupating for just a few weeks and emerging as an adult during July. The larvae overwinter twice within the roots and stems before forming a gall at the base of the cane during their second year.

The species is thought to have been accidentally introduced into Britain from mainland Europe on imported raspberry plants. It was first recorded in Britain in 2007 in North Hertfordshire and South Cambridgeshire after Jim Reid discovered larval workings while pruning raspberry canes in his garden. Adults were later confirmed using pheromone lures in nearby fruit farms. Although fairly widespread across mainland Europe, Raspberry Clearwing doesn't disperse over long distances, which supports the theory that our British population originated from imported plants.

A massive thank you to Jean for taking the time to meet me and show me this fantastic site. Without his local knowledge, I'd probably still be searching for allotments!

With today's success, I've now seen all 16 British clearwing species. It's been a brilliant journey that's taken me to some amazing places around the country. I've learnt so much about their food plants, habitats, and life cycles, met some great people along the way, and spent countless hours travelling and searching for these incredible moths.

Finally seeing Raspberry Clearwing and completing the full set is something I'll never forget. Every mile travelled, every early start, and every failed search have been worth it. Mission accomplished.

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