As a footnote to the above post ,at mid-morning today the Dungeness bird observatory warden counted 30+ Red Admirals along the shingle beach ,before they moved on (presumably out to sea ) .
The record is on the Dungeness twitter page.
Allan .W.

Four butterfly sightings this morning from coastal Kent . 2 Red Admirals zipping around the gardens at Dymchurch ,1 Red Admiral in New Romney High Street, and in- land mid-Kent ,what was probably yet another Red Ad flashed across the back garden ..........didn,t see that one well ......................

Goldie ,thats an excellent shot you,ve entered in the comp ..............the Marble on the Ox-eye Daisies .............Good luck with that one ! Allan.W.

Enjoying your recent posts Dave .You certainly made the most of the Long -Tails this year ,with some excellent images . I must get out a bit more ! In Kent i only managed 2 ,a male that flashed around a hedgerow with Pea plants .........but just wouldn,t settle (before dissapearing !) and a very wor...

Many years ago a whole volume of Chalkhill Vaiations/abberations was produced "A Monograph of the Abberations of the Chalkhill Blue " by Bright and Leeds .................a volume i,d dearly like to have a look through ,i,ve only ever seen one for sale ..........and that was VERY pricey .....

Common Blues were down in numbers locally for me this year ..........that said there were certainly some beauties about . The first shot was taken at St.Margarets bay ,in a small reserve beside the Dover Patrol monument where i found several on the wing ,along with good numbers of Small Blues . As i...

Found reasonable numbers locally this season the majority on the North Downs ,particularly in the Wye (Kent ) area .
This pair were right beside the footpath at the base of the Devils Kneading trough while on a Duke hunt .
Allan.W.

Early afternoon visit to Dungeness today and as expected no Small Coppers ! it was fairly warm 13-14 c .I,d mainly gone to Dungeness to try for some seabird action along the point ........tried a bit of a seawatch hoping for a Leachs Petrel (or two !) there have been very high numbers reported since...

Nice Copper there David bit of an "inbetweenie" between Extensa and Kochi .................unusual ! a nice late find !
Nothing about in my neck of the woods...............Winters here !
Allan.W.

Some lovely individuals there "Over the pass" .Like yourself i found a male Chalkhill miles from "home" in my local woodlands a few years back .........about 8-9 miles from their closest downland site . And thats a cracking abberant male with the reddest spots that i,ve seen on a...

2 different undersides from me ,lots of underwing variation among the Commas from Orlestone forest Kent especially the late Summer /early Autumn individuals .They seemed to have had a pretty good season and i found 7 or 8 individuals on most of my late summer visits. Allan.W. P1370554 (2).JPG P12003...

Hello David ,
Your plant is Himalayan Honeysuckle ..................forgotten the latin name . Allan.W.

Like Goldie ,i found many Chalkhills flying at Lydden/Temple near Dover .Some beauties opening up when the sun finally appeared, after a dull start . I start out pretty early ,so that at least i can look through the undersides for anything a bit different .Amongst the roosting individuals i found th...

I watched Adonis Blues at 4 Kent sites this year Wye Downs NNR , The downs above Folkestone ,and Kingsdown Leas ,near Deal and Temple Ewell /Lydden where they were about in good numbers ,although possibly slightly down on last year . I took very few pictures ,but quite like this one. P1220532 (2).JP...

Spadgers !!.....................had the same problem Vince ,been watching about 6-7 Small White larvae (and some Large Whites ) on my Nasturtiums ,everything going well ...............and the Sparrows stripped the the lot ! Anyway a couple of Brimstones ,both late Summer individuals .They did partic...

Thanks David ! Allan.W.

Hello David , Just seen your post re; Shetland warbler and your friend/colleague Jon Dunn .A couple of seasons back i had a very early morning visit to a local woodland to photograph Orchids and a rare moth . As i strolled along i came across a VERY unusual Orchid ,just to the side of a small woodla...

I found far fewer Brown Argus locally (mid Kent ) this season .With only a handful at Orlestone and Dungeness .......never managed a single visit to my local hotspot either ,will hopefully have more time available in 24' ! anyway heres two of my favourites both from Wye Downs NNR (The "Kneading...

A Grizzled Skipper in mid-October ! ....................must surely be a British first ..............i,ve twice seen a Grizzle in August ,but October .......................Its definately not April the first is it ?
Allan.W.

Blimey David ! 3 Meadow Browns ,haven,t seen one for nearly a month now ! and the one pictured looks pretty fresh too !......Nice one !! Allan.W.