Also a local had a Small Tortoiseshell in their garden in Shadoxhurst ,Kent a couple of days back . Nothing for me as yet though !
Allan.W.

Hello Devon Dave Many years ago the wife and I were working in the garden ,around late January and we too heard a Cuckoo ,it called twice and repeated it after a short interval ,our "Cuckoo " turned out to be a..................... Starling ,superb mimics ! Allan.W.

Far fewer Silver Spots on the wing locally in 23' with numbers certainly down on 22' but still a few around !............. a mating pair still eludes me ..........with more time on my hands this year i,m determined to rectify that ! Anyway of the very few pics taken this was my favourite . Allan.W. ...

Hello Bugboy , I,ve just been looking through a twitter page called "Bird Hybrids " .........some very unusual bits and pieces on there . 90% of the birds depicted are Duck / goose species ,amongst them ( and some way back !) on the 30th Dec '22' is a drake duck very similar to yours ,from...

As others have also found ,Red Admirals had an exceptional season in 2023 and i saw them in every month (that said ,think i missed January !) my latest being mid- December at Littlestone on sea ,Kent . Along with Gatekeepers ,Red Admirals were my years "winners ". Heres one from Dungeness ...

Your hybrid duck is interesting Bugboy ................have you considered Scaup x Ring-Necked ,for me its head is more Ring -necked than Tufty ........................just a thought .
Allan.W.

Peacocks had an excellent season ,here in mid- Kent and i had some fairly high counts of fresh individuals quite late in the season ,with up to 40 counted on two different visits . This one was a quite striking minor AB;Diopthalmica. Allan.W.

Reasonable numbers locally this year .My 4 overwintered pupae all hatched succsessfully and all were realeased ,more or less where i found them as eggs , found fewer eggs than usual though.These are my two favourites ,the first a female oviposturing .........she finally laid on the fourth go ..........

I only had a couple of visits looking for Dukes this season ,on one occasion to a small Kent colony ,i found around a dozen or so .This small colony near Crundale in Kent varies little season by season but at peak periods there are generally around 15-20 (ish) to be found ,and colour variation ,from...

" Spin the Wheel ",or whatever its called is on ..................So good opportunity to post my favourite Meadow Brown ,fair numbers about at most sites visited in Mid-Kent ,with lots of variation .These two are both from an early morning visit to Temple Ewell . I have posted the pale ind...

Some superb images and interesting observations in this thread ! ..............My shot is rather "After the lord mayors show "! but it was the only one (of two) . seen that stopped for a picture . I visited they,re fairly regular Kent site (Kingsdown Leas ) on several occasions ,looking fo...

Saw the bulk of my Marbled Whites ,as usual on the North Downs (Kent ) ,very few were found in Orlestone forest this year compared to the last two or three seasons . This one was found around the "Dragonfly pond " at Sandwich bay reserve . I was actually looking for paired Dainty Damselfli...

A surprise earlier today ,we went for a walk along the seafront at Littlestone (Kent) just after mid-day ,a fairly warm (11 c) ,slightly breezy day. As we returned to the car ,Lynne spotted a butterfly flying around around the outside of an abandoned seafront care home ,it kept jinking about to and ...

I notice that the larva is on Common Nettle ,a known foodplant of Jersey Tiger .................just a thought ! Allan.W.

You,ve found some cracking Abberation just lately Bugboy ,particularly the Gatekeeper Ab;luscens ............very unusual and also the Meadow Brown underside (just before the courting Brown Args ) and a very nice smart ,fresh Radiata Copper .................Good finds !
Nice One !
Allan.W.

I didn,t have to look through too many shots this season for my "favourite " Grizzle .Two words can describe the Grizzles locally to me this season ..............Absolute Disaster !! I,ve been very blessed over the past 7-8 seasons or so ,having 5 good Grizzle areas close at hand ,with the...

At Dungeness (Kent) late morning we found 7 Red Admirals ,3 around the garden fence around the Old lighthouse garden ,most looking pretty worn ,but still very active . Another 3 just back from the tideline near the Point .................Keeping the beach anglers company ! two of these Admirals . we...

A pair of in-cop Essex Skippers still eludes me ! Hopes were once again raised when i noted two Skipper pairs ........both Small , ....................maybe next season ! I did note reasonable numbers of Essex locally ,but must admit i never spent too much time sorting through them all . Allan.W. P1...

Gatekeepers did exceptionally well this year in Mid-Kent ,and i saw very high numbers at most sites i visited .They did particularly well in my local forest (Orlestone ) .I was fortunate enough to find 6 in-cop pairs What was very noticeable were the numbers with extra spotting,and the variation in ...

A Grass Webworm was trapped at Dungeness obs; on 30th of September this year ,i saw it when it was boxed ......as Aeshna says ,a very rare moth ...............at least in the UK . Theres a good photo on the observatory website for the 30th Sept ..........a few pages back.
Allan.W.