Susie, We paid a brief visit to East Blean last weekend and not a sign of one. We met False Apollo there who had spent a longer period looking, and up to the point we left him he had not seen one either. Apparently someone looked in the week and again no sign. So you are not late. Not sure if anyone...

jasonbirder wrote:Yikes! I'm deeply concerned lots of species seem to be very early this year... Making my quest for all 59 extremely difficult! Only just bagged Glanville Fritillary...next week earnmarked for Ireland and Scotland...and with no Small-Pearl Bordered yet...and people are saying Heath...

The locals at Kingsdown cover this area on a regular basis, at least every day over the weekends. They are the ones who found them last year so if any were around I am sure that they would have mentioned it by. Sadly, there is belated evidence that some of the British born specimens were taken last ...

Small Blues Just a quick update to say that we saw 42 Small Blues at a location between Walmer and Kingsdown (Kent) on Sunday. The weather was brilliant (26 degrees) but the crowds meant it was not easy to get around. One item of concern at this site was the amount of Kidney Vetch that had been kill...

Jack, We have made 3 visits actually. Scored on the 5th & 9th of June. The first visit many years ago was about a week later when we saw none. Feels like the closer to the end of May you can leave it, the better. Obviously weather dependent. Down here in Kent butterflies are in general a week or...

Jack, First time we went there we drew a blank. The second time however was good. They started literally as you left the car park and walked the main track (hard gravel track). Our first was within a couple of metres of leaving the car park. It was so close we could probably have seen it from the pa...

Some highlights and some disappointments Firstly, thank you to DB with an E, for your comments. You are correct that a population of Wall Browns has become established at Samphire Hoe. Incidentally, the count of Early Spiders this year reached over 7,000. You can't fail to see one if you go at the ...

The day of the Dukes In my last update I posted a photo of 2 Black Winged Stilts to which I will now add a little more detail. It was Saturday 26 April 2014 and not a day for Butterflies. It was cold and windy, more a day for sea watching at Dungeness and that is exactly what we did. In 2.5 hours w...

We saw a minimum of 17 Duke of Burgundy at Bonsai Bank, Denge Wood, South of Canterbury, yesterday. Most were very fresh and must have emerged this weekend. The added benefit at this location is the large numbers of Lady Orchids in full flower. A really pleasant morning.

A few photos to go with my Friday 25th April update.

A (migrant?) Swallowtail yesterday briefly at Seabrook (between Hythe and Folkestone, Kent) was tweeted locally today.

A COLOURFUL WEEK: PURPLE, BLACK, BLUE BUT NO RED. I have not updated for a while because, to be honest, not much was changing. The weather was restricting the number of butterflies and people must get bored of reading about yet more Peacocks, Orange Tips and Small Tortoiseshells, despite our love f...

New Butterflies and Birds for the year. This is the time of the year when expectations grow to see your first of the year, both in terms of Butterflies and Birds. This week, despite a few poor days, has delivered. I have marked our first sightings of the year with the abbreviation (nfy- new for yea...

Hello Pauline, The Redpoll species can be hard to separate. Some people used to regard them as one species but in general most of the Redpolls seen in Britain are Lesser Redpolls. They are the smallest and most frequent of the 3 species we see. They can look very dull and brown although the male in ...

The return of the Swallow. Despite the colder weather yesterday (Sun) we saw our first 3 Swallows of the year around the RSPB Dungeness. Always a good sign as many regard their return as the start of summer. Pity the weather did not match the joyful sight of their return. Our good moth week continu...

Wow. What a day. And I don't just mean the temperature, which was a staggering 18 degrees in the sun. With little wind it meant a tee shirt and trousers was all that was needed for a pleasant walk. The Wow refers to the insects on offer. Butterflies were everywhere at Dungeness today with good numb...

A strange sort of week It started off very warm but gradually got cooler as the week went on. Eventually yesterday there was hailstones, thunder and lighting. Almost back to winter. Consequently the number of butterflies being seen fell dramatically as the week passed. We started the week (Tuesday)...

Is it March or is it July? The calender tells me one thing the weather tells me the other. Today was at least 18 degrees around 14.00 hours, the public were out in their droves, luckily the butterflies were also responding, including our first Small White of the year. MONDAY 10 MARCH 2014. Today wa...

Large Tortoiseshell at Beckley, East Sussex Just a quick update following yesterdays sighting and photograph of a Large Tortoiseshell at Beckley. (As reported yesterday. Seen today in Beckley Woods - several Peacocks and Commas flitting back and forth and then, while searching for Adders I discover...

The Week of the Butterfly This is the week that our butterfly season kicked off and what a week it has been for so early in the year. We have seen excellent numbers of Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell, supported by Comma and Peacock. SAT 01 MAR 2014. A Dungeness visit produced Glossy Ibis, 1st win...