September Birds & Moths

By the end of September Jackie and I have managed to edge above our 2025 year list and are just 3 species off 200 for the year which is our annual target, but we are missing a couple of species which we would usually run into Pied and Spotted Flycatcher, There is an outside chance that we might still pick one up but it is looking unlikely now.  Saying this there is a chance of a few more annual autumn species that might come our way and one or two species that will winter to see us creep over that. target figure.

We managed to see 113 species in September adding nine to our year list.  We made a couple of visits to Keyhaven and Pennington Marshes once with friends and the second at the end of the mouth on a twitch.

Our first visit on 2nd Sept. saw us add Eider, seeing four out on the Solent, all were young birds and this site is very good to see this species of more northerly duck in the summer as a few non-breeding birds can often be found here.  We also added Knot a species we missed in the early part of the year along with good close views of a Ruff.

Ruff over Fishtail Lagoon Keyhaven © Nick Hull

On the 6th Jackie and I popped down to Devon and visited Black Hole Marsh part of the Seaton Wetlands. A Pectoral Sandpiper had been found there, an American wader which is one of the more common transatlantic visitor to the UK, but one we hadn't't seen for a while.  We arrived at the board walk that takes you out to the main hide and I had a quick look through the screen and found a small sandpiper and a juvenile Ringed Plover feeding almost under the hide and I said to Jackie "I think I've the Pec" she had a look and agreed and said "we should get a good view from the hide" but as she said this it took off and we lost it as it went behind the hide out of view.  

From the hide there were a variety of waders present so we started looking through them to try and find the 'Pec'.  We found Spotted Redshank, Curlew Sandpiper a Common Sandpiper and then a Wood Sandpiper and we began to think it had left.  Then a lady in the hide to my left asked what is this bird down here, When I looked it was The Pectoral Sandpiper feeding right under the hide opposite side to where it had been when we arrived.

Pectoral Sandpiper, Black Hole Marsh © Nick Hull

Wood Sandpiper Black Hole Marsh © Nick Hull

Our next highlight was on the 16th Sept along with Fran and David we took a trip from Swanage to the Isle of Wight on the Steam Paddle Ship the Waverley.  The Trip out was fairly uneventful with only Gannet being seen but on our return Jackie spotted a dark bird chasing a Herring Gull off the Needles. When I managed to get onto it, it was obviously a Great Skua I just managed to see a white wing flash as it turned a really fortunate sighting.

Next Day we were due to go out birding with our godson Nat but unfortunately Jackie wasn't feeling very good so I went as he wanted to see the Little Stint that was seen the previous day at Lodmoor, also to try for a Wryneck on Portland.  We started at the Bill for an hour's sea watch other than a lot of Gannet feeding of the Bill and a few auks there wasn't much going on, so we headed to Kings Quarry for the Wryneck but we dipped on this as well.  Whilst we were there news came on that there was one possibly two Grey Phalarope seen from Chesil Cove.   We arrived at Chesil Cove and almost saw a single Grey Phalarope straight away bobbing around in the surf just off the beach.  I took Jackie back the next day with my camera and managed to see both individuals.

Grey Phalarope Chesil Cove Portland © Nick Hull

After we headed off to Lodmoor as the Little Stint had been seen again on the Post Box Pool and our luck was in.  The first bird I put the scope on was the Little Stint but by the time Nat got looked through the scope it had moved behind the reeds.  With a little patience it eventually reappeared for him to get another lifer, his third for the day.

On the 22nd We were on one of the first Autumn Safari birdbaths with Birds of Poole Harbour starting a little late as it was very foggy and waited for it to lift so started off but returned to look over Brownsea Lagoon to give the Wareham Channel a chance for the fog to lift.  Brownsea had a good number of Spoonbill present.

Spoonbill Brownsea Lagoon © Nick Hull

Later as we were heading back towards the Wareham Channel and crossing the central harbour I spotted an eagle over the Wytch Channel which headed across Arne RSPB towards Wareham and disappeared out of sight.  But a little later Paul Morton found it sitting in one of its favoured trees along the Arne Shoreline.  I managed a couple of poor shots of it but it was a little too far away even for my 500mm lens.

Male White-tailed Eagle Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

On the 25th Sept Jackie and I joined the Birds of Poole Harbour tractor tour of Middlebere Farm.  It was interesting to see the Farmers view of conservation on his land and what he is doing to encourage wildlife and why he chose the breeds of cattle,  pigs and Konik horses to graze the heathland, marsh and what was heathland now grazing fields, which are now important for wax cap species.  Whilst on the tour we visited Middlebere and along with the usual waders and duck found there we had an adult Yellow-legged Gull which was a nice addition to the year list.

On the 27th Jackie and I having not seen a Semipalmated Sandpiper for some time thought we would make the effort to go and see one on Pennington Marsh.  When we arrived it started to rain quite heavily but we were told the bird in question was showing well on the Jetty lagoon.   When we were around half way there a flight of waders took off and landed in the Butts Lagoon which was where we eventually found it along with a Little Stint neither were close enough for a half decent shot.  So just to show you a Semi P here is one from our Texas holiday back in 2004.

Semipalemated Sandpiper - Texas © Nick Hull

As for September Butterflies and Moths.

September seemed to have continued for Clouded Yellows with many being seen everywhere including our wildlife garden along with Painted Lady's.  Wall Brown had a second emergence and we had our first for the year having missed them early with two at Swineham on the 1st Sept.

Wall Brown - Swineham © Nick Hull

The garden moth trap was still producing some nice species some new some more scarce and a few which are common but not for me.  I managed to have the trap out six time in the month and caught 23 species which were new for the year and 5 species that were new for the garden. 

Top left - Pink-barred Sallow Xanthia togata
Top right - Centre-barred Sallow Atethmia centrago
Bottom Left - Barred-Sallow Tiliacea-aurago
Bottom right - The Sallow Cirrhia icteritia

The first species new for the garden was a Centre-barred Sallow on the  night of the 3rd Sept. The second was a Many-lined (Costaconvexa polygrammata) this is a species that became extinct in Britain in the 19th century but recently there has been several records along the south coast with a number of records locally, but still a nice one to add to the garden list.  Also on the same night I caught a Dewick's Plusia (Macdunnoughia confusa) this is a species considered as a migrant with records in Dorset peaking in September. The next was on the 13th this time it was a micro but one of the large species called Wood Sage Pearl (Anania verbascalis) which is a species of the acid heaths around Poole basin has the designation of Nationally scarce B. The last another micro called Madder Pearl (Mecyna asinalis) this is a local species of the coastal chalk and is another Nationally scarce B species. 

Top left - Dewick's Plusia Macdunnoughia confusa
Top right - Gold Spot Plusia festucae
Bottom - Burnished Brass Diachrysia chrysalis

Of the other species were caught during the month which I have only recorded and handful of times has Middle-barred Sallow (Oligia fasciuncula) and Barred Sallow (Tiliacea aurago). Yellow Shell (Camptogramma bilinear), Olive-tree Pearl (Palpate vitrealis), Oblique Carpet (Orthonama vitiate), Gold Spot (Plusia festucae) and Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysalis).

Many-lined Costaconvexa polygrammata and Olive-tree Pearl Palpita vitrealis
Wood Sage Pearl Anania verbascalis and Madder Pearl Mecyna asinalis

I also thought I would include this very pink Vestal to finish with.

The Vestal Rhodometra sacraria

Wildlife in August

August is an odd month I always think, mid summer the kids are off school and this year full on heatwave. Which means that the reptile survey was postponed due to it being so hot the snakes tend to go back underground and wait till its cooler to hunt or they just close down and wait for it to cool down.  The birds tend to take cover and seek out the shade, though putting out water trays in the garden helped not just the birds but the bees and wasps butterflies and many other inverts to refresh themselves with a drink.  

Jackie and I managed to have twelve trips out though many of them were half days as some were very hot. 

Bird wise we managed to add just 4 species to the year list one of them was pretty special.  Birding started on the 2nd when, along with Nat our godsons who very kindly drove, we headed off to the Glostershire/Oxfordshire border to a field near Eastleach twitching a Long-tailed Shrike. This was one of two in the country the other being in Fife Scotland.  Otherwise there had only been one previous record from Uist in November 2000.  The bird we were going to see was officially the 3rd British record as the Fife bird was found first.  On arrival the farmer had given permission for birders to park in a field about 500m from where the bird could be found.  It didn't take long before we were standing and scoping this stunning bird. Which didn't seem to mind people being around as long as you didn't venture to close which nobody did certainly not while we were there.  After watching it for some time I decided to see if I could get a few memory shots of the bird and managed a few ok shots, but the heat haze was awful. 

Long-tailed Shrike - Eastleach, Glostershire © Nick Hull

On the 9th Jackie and I popped over to Sunnyside Farm at Ridge as there was a Wood Sandpiper which had been there a couple of days.  Interestingly whilst we were waiting patiently for it to show I managed to record it calling somewhere in amongst the rushes.  After about half an hour a Green Sandpiper emerged feeding on a wet area of the marsh but the Wood Sandpiper seem to like not to show just call from the cover. 

On the 12th we popped out in the garden for the Eclipse and I fiddle around with the camera as I hadn't a clue what the best setting would be, but with a little trail and error managed a couple of reasonable shot.  We were just a little late by a minute or two for the perfect half arc.

On the 17th we had a walk at Arne with the grandchildren and had a good visit as whilst walking over Coombe Heath we had an Osprey fly low over us carrying its mullet catch and a distant White-tailed Eagle.  

Osprey over Coombe Heath Arne RSPB © Nick Hull

It wasn't until we were having lunch in the cafe garden I picked up the same or another eagle which was much closer carrying prey.  It wasn't until I reviewed my photos that I could make out it was carrying a rabbit.

White-tailed Eagle over Arne RSPB © Nick Hull

A visit to Lodmoor on the 19th added Yellow Wagtail to the year list and we had great views of Bearded Tit, Great White Egret, Spoonbill, Little Ringed Plover plus all the many usual species you find there.

Yellow Wagtail _ Lodmoor RSPB © Nick Hull

Juvenile male Bearded Tit - Lodmoor © Nick Hull 

Our birding highlights finished on the 22nd when we popped out to the Arable Field on the local patch to see a Whinchat which we only saw at distance along with a family party of Stonechat.

On the butterfly front we didn't add any new species to our year list but of note was the number of Clouded Yellows we have seen.  They seem to be everywhere including almost every day seen one or two in the garden.  There also seems to be good numbers of the 'Helice' form of Clouded Yellow being seen, in fact I managed a shot of one on our visit to Badbury Rings on the 14th.  

Clouded Yellow 'helices' form - Badbury Rings © Nick Hull

Moths in August produced three new species for the garden two micro's and a single macro bringing the garden list to 681 species.

The first was a Pale Seedhead Moth Ptocheuusa paupella which lived up to its name being very small and pale. This is a species that generally prefers damper habitats and flies in June & again in August and September.  The larvae feed on seedheads of a number of plants notably Common Fleabane and Golden Samphire.

Ptocheuusa paupella - Pale Seedhead Moth - © Nick Hull

The second micro was a little larger a Wax Moth Galleria mellonella -  This is a species that is declining in England the larvae feed on honeycomb in bee hives preferring the old combs.  Due to improved methods of bee-keeping means they're becoming rarer.

Galleria mellonella - Wax Moth - © Nick Hull

The third was a Small Ranunculus Hecatera dysodea a moth which in Dorset isn't seen often but has been spreading from the south-east.  It feeds on prickly lettuce and seems to be increasing across the county particularly in the Weymouth and Poole Basin areas.

Hecatera-dysodea - Small-Ranunculus - © Nick Hull

As well as recording the moths I also like to try and record what moth recorders call by-catch by this we mean any species that is attracted into the trap ie such as Hornet, Wasp species and beetle etc.

Well back on the 25th May I caught many beetles species in the trap and as I'm not able to key out many on the very small and hard to identifiable species as many require to be gen-det.  I pass these on to Tony Allen who kindly identifies them for me and then they are added to the Lytchett Bay species database.  

Thanks to Tony who came back to me on the 27th August with the identification of a small weevil Pittosporobius crassus, (formerly Stephanorhynchus crassus) Pittosporum seed-weevil. 

Pittosporum seed-weevil - Pittosporobius crassus

It appears they are a New Zealand species. Recorded in Bristol in 2024 with another in Exmouth. More recently in 2026 they have been found in Torbay and Buckfastleigh and all found on Pittosporumm bushes. Incidentally one of which over hangs over a corner of our garden from one of the neighbours. It appears to be the first time they have been recorded in Dorset.

Well September is generally a good month for scarcities as long as the weather is kind.

July Wildlife

July continued as June finished with a number of surprises the first of which came in the guise of a Golden Oriole on the 4th.  Jackie was in the conservatory and I'm in the office inputting moth records.  When Jackie come to my door and says I can hear a Golden Oriole in the wood opposite.  Rush to the front door and listen a sure enough there was a Golden Oriole making it's characteristic fluty calls Jackie made a recording using the Merlin app.  The audio was good enough to claim the record but not really good enough to reproduce here.  I put my NocMig recorder on that night and had it calling again the next morning but we never heard it again after that. Unfortunately Shaun and Ian who tried for it in the morning failed to hear it.  This was a second record of Golden Oriole for the Lytchett Bay patch.   

Because I set up my nocmig recorder I thought I would keep in recording as I usually do not start the autumn recording until the end of August.  It turned out that this was a good idea as just a few days later on the 9th July I was analysing the night of the 8th/9th July and came across the distinct call of a Quail flying by.  Though I can't count it for my year list as I didn't physically hear it like we did with the oriole, but it counts for the patch nocmig list. On the 11th in an attempt to get quail on our year list we visited various location from where they had been reported with no luck at all.  

Two Owls · Common Quail

I suggested as we were in the Cranborne Chase we should try Wyke Down as it was getting late afternoon which turned out to be a good decision as we eventually heard Quail and Grey Partridge.

On the 22nd Jackie and I met with friends at the RSPB's Winterborne Down's reserve. Our aim here was to see Stone-curlew.  Walking up from the car park Jackie and I stopped and both said simultaneously Stone-curlew calling.  From the view point I think it was Fran who spotted the first Stone-curlew and then a second was found.  Views were ok but we had some heat haze to contend with as the temperature was rising. 

After our visit here we headed to Langford Lakes Nature Reserve a location Jackie and I hadn't visited for sometime in fact we twitched a Red-footed Falcon there in 2021.  By the time we arrived it was lunch time so into the the cafe we went.  We had a very nice lunch and headed out on to the reserve to see what we could find.  It wasn't until we arrived at the main hide that we saw anything other than the usual species. 

Green Sandpiper - Langford Lakes © Nick Hull

 From the hide we found two Green Sandpiper and two Common Sandpiper, Canada Geese, Coot, Lapwing and ended with an adult Little Ringed Plover and its juvenile.

Juvenile Little Ringed Plover © Nick Hull

I also added three species of Dragonfly to my annual list. The first was Blue-eyed Hawker or giving it its old name Southern Migrant Hawker which are a stunning species which were on the home patch.  The shot below shows why they are named Blue-eyed Hawker.

Aeshna affinis - Blue-eyed Hawker - Lytchett Bay © Nick Hull

Then Jackie and I visited Silverlake and added Scarlet Darter/ as they are known now Broad-scarlet Darter and Red-veined Darter, Lesser Emperor and Small Red-eyed Damselfly.

Pair of Red-veined Darter mating in a tree -Silverlake © Nick Hull

Broad-Scarlet / Scarlet Darter - Silverlake © Nick Hull

We ended the month on 184 for the year we seem to be very slowly adding species this year.

On the Butterfly front Jackie and I saw 28 species in July adding Grayling, Purple Hairstreak, Silver-washed Fritillary, Brown Argus, Clouded Yellow, Adonis Blue, Small Blue and Dark Green Fritillary.

Clouded Yellow - Silverlake © Nick Hull

The moths have been pretty good this month though not quite hit the level of The Latin I caught in June but I've had some good migrants and some good species for Dorset.

I often catch Birch Mocha and Maiden's Blush and occasionally Dingy Mocha and Clay Triple-lines but over the last month I've added Blair's Mocha and the rarer Jersey Mocha to the Cyclophora family list just leaving me one more to catch to complete the set False Mocha. 

Photographs © Nick Hull

I've also been catching a variety of migrant some are annual but others are dependent on weather condition and good breeding years etc.  Cydia implana, Rush Veneer and Rusty Dot Pearl are micro moths and Vestal, Small Mottled Willow and White Point are macro moths.  

Photographs © Nick Hull

I also caught a species which I've been looking out for since moving here in 2012 as I commonly see it's relative the Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata around the garden but I have never seen or caught Purple & Gold Pyrausta purpuralis In fact over the last couple of traps I've caught three individuals of this stunning little moth.

Common Purple & Gold Pyrausta purpuralis © Nick Hull

This hot weather has brought a variety of moth species some have been pretty rare over the last couple of month and I'm not sure if it will continue hopefully it will. Though we do desperately need rain but if it keeps bring the good moths to add to the Lytchett Bay list at least that's some kind of consolation.  

Birds, Butterflies and Odonata June 2026

The birds, Jackie and I are still playing catchup and are still little behind on our average year count but we did manage to add eight species to the year list.  Starting with a trip into the New Forest on the 5th where we added Common Redstart at Markash Wood and more at Pig Bush.  

Male Common Redstart - New Forest © Nick Hull

Female Common Redstart - New Forest © Nick Hull

On our way back to the van we came across a feeding flock of recently fledged Firecrest and they were very vocal and moving in and around some holly in search for insects food.  What struck me most was the juvenile birds likeness to young Blue Tits. It was a delight to hear and watch them as the searched every leaf for food and watch the adults feeding them as the moved through past us.

Recently fledged juvenile Firecrest New Forest © Nick Hull

Our next available day was the 7th we had planned to go to Devon but the weather didn't seem to promising so I suggested Portland as we still needed a few sea birds for our list.   When we arrived at the Obelisk and set the scope there was a a very large flock of mixed gulls feeding out over the 'Race' and lots of auks were moving backwards and forwards to the cliffs and then back out to sea for more food to feed their youngsters.  It took a short while before we saw our first Manx Shearwater and a little longer to see the first Balearic.

Manx Shearwater © Nick Hull

Balearic Shearwater © Nick Hull

With the melee of gulls it was only time before a skua would be in but it was whether we had the time to spend waiting.  Scanning continuously through the gull flock I suddenly picked up a small dark tern and scooping it was surprised to see it was a Black Tern in fact there were two. I managed to get Jackie on to it before they disappeared.  A little after I saw a dark looking bird flying directly toward me head towards the gulls and it turned it was an obvious skua and scoping it was clearly an Arctic Skua a good addition to our year list.  There were lots of Gannet, Kittiwake, fewer Fulmar and lots of Guillemot and lesser numbers of Razorbill made for a nice seawatch.

We left Portland and popped into Ferrybridge for the single reason that we hadn't seen Little Tern or Ringed Plover.  The Little Tern was easy moving around over the nesting area and over the fleet.  The Ringed Plover proved a little harder. Though I did manage to find one on the chesil bank in amongst the thrift (Sea Pinks). 

On the 15th we were back in the Weymouth area visiting Lodmoor.  We were hoping to catch sight of the Bittern but unfortunately we had missed its morning flight.  But we saw the Marsh Harrier, a pair Spoonbill and Great White Egret and Jackie had a catchup with Bearded Tit which she had missed when we did the Poole Harbour Birdboat.  We also had very good views of a Common Whitethroat which put on a very nice display and sang to us from the top of a Dog Rose.

Common Whitethroat - Lodmoor © Nick Hull

On the 18th we visited friends that live at Martin, so we went early and had a walk on the down before we met up.  We managed to hear a single Turtle Dove which added another species to our list, so our birding month finished with us on 179 species and we still have a few fairly common species which we are missing.

Lepidoptera 

Our Butterfly sightings have only increased by two species both were first seen at Badbury Rings on the 16th Marbled White and Ringlet bringing us to 25 species so far.

Ringlet - Badbury Rings © Nick Hull

Marbled White - Badbury Rings © Nick Hull

As for the moths this month has been incredible I've caught 180 species two of which have been real rarities.  The first was on the 19th was the rarest. First recorded in Dorset in 2001 and two in 2016 and the last in 2023 are the only ones listed on the Dorset Moths website. So it appears mine could be the 5th record for the county.

The Latin as I found it sitting on the carton - © Nick Hull

The Latin © Nick Hull

Phil Saunders, another moth enthusiast who also lives in Upton, contacted me and asked if I still had the Latin and I said yes so he came over to see it.  He brought with him a Light Crimson Underwing which is a Nationally scarce Red Datebook species and also a migrant, which he had caught the same night.  Which was really nice as it was a species I've never seen.  The odd thing is that just ten days later I go to my trap and I see a large moth fluttering around inside, I covered the trap so it was dark inside and then took another look and it had settled somewhere inside. My thoughts was that it was a Light Crimson Underwing and I didn't want it to escape.  I went through the top cartons and no sign then I saw a head poking around one of the cartons and I slowly placed a pot over it and it turned into a Pine Hawk-moth which was nice as I only ever get one or two a year.  I continued slowly as I was sure what I saw was a LC Underwing.  Two egg cartons later I turn over and there it was I quickly potted it and relaxed, one of my own. The surprise was two cartons later and there was a second. 

Two Light Crimson Underwing © Nick Hull

Light Crimson Underwing © Nick Hull

I also have caught a few other moth of interest which I've only caught a few times over the years.

There are a few other micro's that I caught for the first time in the garden, they were relatively common species which I put the effort in to identify that I've probably caught before but hadn't been in such good condition to be able to get a identification without gen-detting.

Odonata

Well we had an early emergence of Large Red Damselflies from the garden pond and then very little of note until recently when we started to see visiting Keeled Skimmer in the front garden. Mostly immature individuals then one or two adult females and this last week we have had a nice blue powdered male visiting and second generation Large Red Damselfly have also been seen. The best was a Golden-ringed Dragonfly (Jackie's favourite) which flew in and perched on the hedge and took a rest for a while.

Male Keeled Skimmer © Nick Hull

Female Keeled Skimmer © Nick Hull

Golden-ringed Dragonfly © Nick Hull

At this moment in time we are not doing so well on the Odonata front with only having recorded ten species but hopefully we will be able to extend that over the next couple of months.

Other Garden Wildlife

We've recorded a few other species in the garden which we usually see away out on the Lytchett Bay patch.  The first is one of the Potter Wasp group which uses Marble Galls to place beetle larvae into and lay her eggs.

Symmophus bifasciatus © Nick Hull

Another wasp species with a great name of Astata boops this is a small wasp that predates of Shieldbugs and we have often recorded it in the garden and they just seem to sit on the rockery stone and wait presumably for a shieldbug  to come along and ambush it.

Astata boops © Nick Hull

Another wasp which Jackie found in our porch was this very stunning Jewel or Ruby-tail wasp, again these are small wasp which parasises on burrow dwelling solitary bees, such as Red Mason Bee. The reason I've put it as Chrysis ignita group is there is around 40 species in the group and genital examination is required to separate them.

Chrysis ignita group_Jewel-Wasp © Nick Hull

The following two wasps Jackie found in the conservatory the one on the left is a European Beewolf Philanthus triangulum and the one on the right is Cerceris arenaria. Both are digger wasps which means they dig burrows usually on compacted sandy soils which will have several cells which they populate with their prey.  In the case of the Beewolf no surprise really they take honeybee and Cerceris arenaria populates hers with Weevils.

hilanthus triangulum - Beewolf & Cerceris arenaria 

Roll on July hopefully it will bring more new species or at least some of the local scarce species that are always possible to turn up adding to our years lists of wildlife.