Hi Guys, Heath Fritillaries are emerging at East Blean Wood. I saw 6 today in the car-park I've put more pictures in my Personal Diary.

Happy Hunting!

Hoggers.

Thanks for the advice David, it's much appreciated. I'm lucky in that when I'm doing a job in Canterbury I'm only 15 minutes' drive from East Blean Wood and so today with the sun shining (at long last) I popped in there to look for Heath Fritillaries. They didn't take much finding P1040442.JPG I'd s...

Cheers David, I was very surprised to find two Painted Ladies and a Holly Blue, but also very pleased. I wonder David if you can help me? All things being favourable I will have the 2nd and 3rd of July off work and I'd really like to see Marsh Fritillaries. Do you think it would be too late this yea...

There are times of the year when Dungeness can seem to be the most forbidding and desolate of places on Earth, a bare post-apocalyptic wasteland of shingle and withered Gorse bushes with a wicked wind blasting in off the sea. Thank Heavens there's a pub. But today,although a strong wind was blowing,...

Thanks for the ID Pete and yes Chris, you were spot on! I stopped off at Lydden Nature Reserve on my way home today to spend some time with the Adonis Blues IMG_4334.JPG IMG_3967.JPG I noticed how strikingly different the blue of the wing is depending on how it catches the light IMG_4310.JPG IMG_431...

Yes Guy, I'm really quite Slug Friendly (for a gardener!) I remember doing a project on them for my 'O' Level Biology (showing my age here - it was long,long ago!) and when you actually look at them up close, they are beautiful creatures. Thanks Wurzel, I'm not surprised that you miss your garden bu...

I do feel rather proud of my efforts in the garden Pauline although I'm sure dear old Percy Thrower is turning in his grave at all the blunders I'm making. It's very much work in progress. I've surprised myself by how much I enjoy gardening having never before seen any attraction in it. It was only ...

Wurzel, If you're a Butterfly Fancier work can feel like a cruel torture on sunny days in Summer! I got home today at around 3.30pm after driving cross-country and every mile wishing I could go butterflying. The sun had come out and it was very pleasant indeed. I wandered up the garden and stood gaz...

Little Egbert isn't so little anymore P1040380.JPG P1040383.JPG I think he'll be flying the nest very soon P1040387.JPG P1040388.JPG Today I went to Lydden with Brother Hoggles. The first butterfly we came across was a Common Blue in the meadow IMG_3912.JPG (and many more on the hill) And no less th...

I've been stuck in the concrete jungle of the City of London all through this glorious weather. As I walk along the pavements I find I'm gazing about searching in desperation for so much as a blade of grass, anything green and living.Unsurprisingly I haven't seen any butterflies. It's especially fru...

Walking the hounds today I saw two Orange Tips, a Large White P1040295.JPG P1040302.JPG A Peacock and a Green-veined White P1040318.JPG No sign of any Brown Argus yet. Our Blue Tit chick continues to thrive P1040276.JPG We've named him Egbert. The garden is looking nice P1040270.JPG P1040260.JPG P10...

Thanks Susie and David: seeing the Pearls of Abbots Wood was a great way to spend my day off. Bitten by the travelling bug, today I ventured out of Kent and into Surrey. Getting me on the M25 takes a lot of doing but Wood Whites are strong enough attractions to do it. I decided to make my annual pil...

A day off work. All week I've been watching the weather forecasts with the same avidness as my Grand-dad watching the football results come in on a Saturday when he was doing the Pools. I'd long planned to visit Abbot's Wood in East Sussex in the hope of seeing the beautiful Pearl-bordered Fritillar...

I finally managed to get out today after three days' illness which, apart from a short walk with the dogs, kept me more or less in bed throughout the lovely warm sunshine. I must say that reading UKBer's diaries and the Sightings page not only acts as consolation for the unwell but also gives a posi...

Only a four days ago we had five Blue Tit chicks in the box (with one unhatched egg). They all looked healthy enough. We enjoyed watching them at feeding times and despite the rather cool conditions they seemed to be doing well P1040126.JPG P1040139.JPG But the weather down here in Kent reached a lo...

Hi Pauline, nothing going on here quite so dramatic as with your parrots I'm relieved to say! The male brings in food but rarely feeds the chicks, he always seems to give what he's found to the female first and she passes it on. The chicks are growing rapidly. It's marvellous watching them sticking ...

Hi Dave, it's a lovely area and just marvellous for butterflies. I'll be going back there later this season if the weather ever improves so I'll keep an eye open for you.
Cheers

We have more than our fair share of Magpies,David: if any of the Blue Tit chicks manage to leave the nest their problems will just be beginning. Fingers crossed for them. By the way, I was impressed with your Small Blue photographs and I hope I can manage to find some this season too. I love Small C...

When the female Blue Tit is sitting on the chicks her partner will arrive outside the box and call to her. He uses the typical Blue Tit call which we are all familiar with but she answers from the nest with a call that I've never heard before, a remarkably grasshopper-like high pitched sound that ca...

Hi Wurzel, thanks for your kind comments - I've seen your photographs and think they're stunning, particularly the Pearl-bordered Fritillaries that you posted last week. I hope the sun comes out for you this weekend. Hi Pauline,I know just how you feel: my camera box has been in the garden for at le...