28th JUNE 2015 TO 24TH JULY 2015 Sorry to bore you again, although Operation Stack rarely makes the headlines these days, it has actually been instigated on 19 of the last 30 days. The minimum length of motorway closed is 18 miles, but often 30 miles. Unless you live in this area most will not unde...

27 May 2015 to 27 June 2015. The biggest news during this period is the chaos brought to this part of Kent by Operation Stack. What has closing the M20 to stack lorries got to do with butterflies. Well got a lot actually because it means we have to abandon plans to visit good butterfly hotspots bec...

I was once informed of a site behind Spean Bridge Railway Station where very late Chequered Skippers are often seen (last week of June). This is a proper walk leading through a small wooded area out onto a more open area on your right hand side. They were seen within 200 metres of the gated entrance...

Wurzel, I see you plan to come to East Kent for the Heath Fritillary on Sunday. I assume you are going on the guided walk with the Kent Butterfly Society which I believe is visiting a different part of the Wood complex for the Heath F. Should it be a personal visit then the Heaths are easy to find a...

EAST BLEAN WOODS. This afternoon in a hot sunny spell between the thunder storms we saw a total of 16 Heath Fritillaries at East Blean Woods today. 2 were less than 20 metres from the car park in the freshly coppiced area. The other 14 were in a coppiced area accessed by walking through the gate in ...

Mick Rock wrote:Does anybody know if Heath Fritillaries are flying in Essex yet - Hadleigh?

Can't speak for Essex but they are out at East Blean, Kent. 20 was seen around the wood at the weekend.

Dave

26th April 2015 to 26 May 2015. Sorry about the lack of updates recently. The reasons include a two week period without internet connection, or at best a limited intermittent service. BT have provided a replacement Hub which has now got me back online. I suppose the real disappointment was our Butte...

15th April 2015 to 25th April 2015. We have suffered here with some really cold days and even colder nights. Moth trapping for most in East Kent has been non existent. The only moths we have seen have been real goodies. Both on the 25th. Firstly, a Northern Drab was caught at DBO and available to v...

But I have risen to the heights of being on BBC (somewhere on the slide show is Ben Nevis)

Beautiful photo Jack. Well done appearing on BBC. (Bit early to search for Chequered Skipper though at Spean Bridge ).

Green Hairstreak on the wing here in Kent. We saw 5 on Monday at Wye NNR.

Dave

14 March 2015 to 14th April 2015 . Its been a month since I updated our diary. Does this mean we have not been doing much wildlife watching? I am pleased to say we have been out and about as much as ever, including enjoying a few good butterfly days. Our year list gradually creeps up with Brimstone...

A GOOD START TO THE SEASON . So far this year we have caught up with Red Admiral, Peacock, Brimstone and now Comma. We can't complain with that as its still not mid March but will have to wait until the next mild spell to move our sightings forward. On the Plant front things are also moving along n...

Hello Goldie, very glad to help. The Night Heron in Britain is quite a scarce bird but very easily overlooked because of their camouflaged plumage. The low number reported is probably not helped by many some books only showing the bird in Adult Summer plumage, which is is a lot brighter and more obv...

Thanks Trevor. 6th February 2015 to 12th February 2015. Not a lot happening really although we have seen our first moths of the season, thanks to our friends at Ruckinge. Only Early Moth, Dark Chestnut, March Moth and a Pale Brindled Beauty, but none the less a pleasant start to the year. This was o...

Hi Trevor,
I take it no more sightings of the Snowy Owl. Wild birds are not out of the question, especially with the very cold northern/ north east winds of late.

Dave

14th January 2015 to 05th February 2015. Not one winter moth or butterfly, despite a few searches. Can't blame them mind you as the night time temperatures have made me hide under the covers. So that only leaves birds and they have been thin on the ground around here. Despite my optimism on the last...

i could have sworn it was the warden at either Berry Pomeroy or Dartington Court in Devon. but try as I may I can't find it... You were not dreaming, unless I shared your same dream. I recall reading about that, possibly the Branscombe area (Devon). Being that no further news was put out the follow...

26th December 2014 to 14th January 2015. Despite a few warm days, and the fact that others have seen a few moths, we are yet to encounter such a welcome sight. Looking at the long term weather forecast it seems we must wait a while. In the meantime we have undertaken some birdwatching, but with not...

13th November 2014 to 25th December 2014 . Firstly, best wishes to everyone for a really happy Christmas. For most people it is a family time of fun and togetherness. We are no exception, but do go out birding on Xmas Day morning (well there are no butterflies out at the moment). To our surprise to...

16th October to 12th November 2014. Its been a while since I updated our sightings but it's not been a very productive period, or at least not as good as we hoped it would be. Moth migration has almost stopped, with birds and butterflies not doing much better. There have been a few surprises and tr...

Its raining Ouzels. Well Ring Ouzels that is. Most years we get a few at Dungeness. If we see ten then we consider that a really good day. However, the 14th October 2014 will long be remembered as the day they fell out of the sky. We ourselves saw well over 400 that day, but the Observatory count w...