Thanks Neil. On a similar theme I have just updated my Personal Diary with news of a Clifden Nonpareil (moth) influx into Kent. They are probably breeding locally, but if true migrants previous high numbers have sometimes been accompanied by Camberwell Beauty. Maybe the butterfly season is not quite...

BLUE IS MY FAVOURITE COLOUR. Thanks David for your observation. I also came to that conclusion despite the late date of 20 September. We have seen it several more times since but probably unlikely to find a mate. Its been a strange sort of September with some species in good numbers i.e. Small Copp...

A feature of our butterfly watching the last few weeks has been the number of Small Coppers and Clouded Yellows sighted. The downside has been our failure to record Adonis Blue, and Saturday 13 September was no exception, when we visited St Margarets (Kent). We did see 9 Red Admirals, 9 Speckled Woo...

Hello Hoggers, Passed you today looking intently downwards along the Power Station boundary fence. We must have checked the same areas as we also failed to find radiata Nice to see good numbers of Small Copper and Small Heath still at Dungeness. A Clouded Yellow was near the Old Lighthouse where you...

Liz, I have been a Dungeness regular for nearly 30 years and have spent many hours on the beach sea watching. In all that time I have never seen, or heard of a Purple Emperor being seen, on the beach or just inland of it. Most years we see many Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells and Clouded Yellows ...

Moving forward. Saturday 06 Sept 2014 was another Dungeness day. The number of migrant birds had reduced considerably so we concentrated on Butterflies. Although we found good numbers of Small Heath, Small Copper, Common Blue and Red Admiral little else was found. Sunday 07 Sept 2014. We toured Wall...

Catch up continued. Sunday 31 August was another good day spent at Dungeness. Still migration going on with a Honey Buzzard, 5 Common Buzzards, 4 Hobbys, Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 25 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Blackcaps, Garden Warbler, many Willow Warblers, 500 p...

It has been sometime since I updated this diary. Basically we have been out in the field most days and have had limited time to write up any reports. Have we seen much? Yes we have. Have we taken photos? Yes we have, but had no time to download them. In between all this we had had the Bank Holiday a...

Thanks Pauline. Yes, the Osprey is always a delight to see, especially here in Kent. What can we say about the past week. Cold, windy, not August weather at all, and clearly different to June and July when we were treated to glorious sunshine and good insects to match. Its been really hard work seei...

A really interesting week. Firstly we found a Silver Spotted Skipper on Wye NNR. Despite numerous visits over the years this is our first ever sighting there, although others have seen them. Second was the finding of a Osprey on our local patch. Only our second record there in over 30 years of watch...

I would dearly like these to be of wild origin but I have a continuing concern. So far none have turned up any where else, as far as we know. They are at a well watched site, but not really known for its migration status, admittedly on the right coast. Had someone released them with the intention of...

Very good and considered responses by Adrian and Liz, said with feeling and some anger. I don't think there is much more to say on the subject of these Maps except I believe, like many other members, that I have worked out the site location, (I was probably a lot slower than potential collectors), s...

[quote] Sorry but I can't the hang of this butterfly twitching lark[ /quote] and Jacks reply. That depends on your definition of twitching. I have to do a round trip of about 600miles to see Northern Brown Argus, Scotch Argus, Mountain Ringlet. Even to see Marsh Fritillary its about 250 miles in tot...

With continuing concerns over the possibility of collectors it is unlikely that I will be reporting on a successful visit to the Map butterflies in Dorset. I think the potential for these to be of wild origin is low, but you you never know in this world of climate change. It is a butterfly that is e...

Whatever your views on nets and collecting, the mere threat of collecting is preventing those of us who just wish to see, and photograph, the current Map butterflies at Swanage from seeing them. Having spoken to someone who has been fortunate enough to see them there is real serious local concern th...

As for releasing the site, we still have big concerns about the impact of a collector on these Butterflies, regardless of their origin Whilst I would like the opportunity to visit the site and view the butterflies, I can understand the reluctance to release precise location details. Whilst many peo...

It gets harder With a change in the weather on some days, becoming cooler and unsettled, butterflies and moths have been harder to come by. Some nights have seen very poor catches of moths here in Kent. However, we still have managed to connect with some good moths and are very grateful to those wh...

But the nicest surprise, was finding my first ever Scotch Argus ssp. caledonia I didn't appreciate how beautiful the Scotch Argus can be. That photo is a stunner. It may be common in some parts but that surely is worth seeking out. (I have yet to see Scotch Argus having never been to Scotland in Au...

Yesterday there was a mass arrival / emergence of Small Tortoiseshells at Dungeness Observatory recording area with a minimum of 500 being recorded by the warden.

I have only ever caught one myself, but it looks like one to me.