Hi Goldie. Pleased you had a good day at Brook (part of Wye NNR). The moth you saw is a Latticed Heath. Sorry you had a little trouble finding the Reserve. I will PM you a Map Reference for the small car park (which I suspect you found) and the area where I normally see most of the Green Hairstreaks...

It reached a scorching high of 13 degrees as we arrived at Samphire Hoe (near Dover) today. With periods of overcast skies at times we were not expecting too much, but pleasantly surprised to see a Clouded Yellow at the Folkestone end where the concrete wall ends adjacent to the cliff. Apparently we...

Hi Goldie. I visited Brook again today in a brief period of sunshine. Still at least 8 Green Hairstreaks about. Most close to the path and some close enough/ suitable for photographs. Also the 3 Dingy Skippers still, again next to the footpath. Didn't see the Wall Brown today but many Orange Tips, B...

Goldie, I have done Brook (see Allan's post) near Wye several times recently on suitable days. Still hard work but I have seen a maximum of 15 Green Hairstreaks, only 1 Wall Brown, 3 Dingy Skippers. Still decent numbers of Orange Tips and Brimstones. Grizzled Skippers are not recorded here, or at le...

Hi Goldie. Beaware that one or two changes have taken place in Kent recently. Not for the better, but considering the large number of people visiting some of the reserves, and the recent cuts in grant funding, Kent Wildlife Trust have introduced Charges in most of their car parks. This is enforced b...

Minimum of 8 Green Hairstreaks today at Wye NNR in a sunny sheltered spot. Usual Brimstones, Peacocks, Small & Large Whites but only one Orange Tip.
Very busy with walkers but still an enjoyable hour or so. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs singing, but still lacking numbers of common migrants.

SUMMER OF 2020 PART THREE SEPTEMBER 2020. Willow Emerald Damselflies continued their spread across Kent with our finding of 7 on Walland Marsh and 5 at Godmersham, both being new sites for the species. Otherwise September was a bit of a let down with few butterflies of note. 6 Cattle Egrets and 2 Gl...

SUMMARY OF 2020 PART TWO JUNE 2020. We witnessed a small movement of Red KItes on the 2nd, near Luddenham, 24 in total of what is still a good bird in Kent. All heading West. Of more interest was the 2 Hornet Moths we found nearby. A visit to Wye NNR the next day found 4 Black Veined Moths, 5 Dingy ...

Summary of 2020 Part One. Like most people we found 2020 to be a very difficult one. Not just because of the impact of Covid and the necessary restrictions on everyone, but that social activities were severely curtailed wih meetings, reserves and events curtailed. Much has already been said about th...

Hi Goldie. I look forward to seeing you again, or at least passing on the latest news for Kent. It will be so nice for you to be near family, and the insect life is great. I look forward to seeing the Long Tailed Blues in your garden. Mine is black tea with no sugar and a digestive biscuit :) Best w...

November & December 2019. I have not updated our diary for some 5 months, and in particular had not concluded our notes for 2019. I take this opportunity to do just that. Like many people we have had plenty of time on our hands this year, but we took the early decision to try and obey the rules ...

OCTOBER 2019 We looked so forward to October. It's usually a good chance to catch up with some scarce birds and also a last chance to enjoy butterflies before the cold weather sets in. We found it generally vey disappointing despite much searching. I believe that others in this part of the Country a...

September 2019. September can be an exciting month for migration of both Birds and Moths but this year seemed flat. The 3rd started well with both Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Vetral and Portland Ribon Wave at Dungeness with an Osprey over but nothing much else happened until the 7th when a small movement ...

Thanks David. You are right about nature giving us all something good to look forward too during what will no doubt be a very testing time for many, both emotionally and financially. AUGUST 2019. The month started well with 5 Wood Sandpipers at Dungeness on the 1st, with 3 Red Underwings resting on ...

A few more photos from recent outings.

Thanks Trevor and David for your kind White Admiral comments. July 2019. As mentioned earlier 2019 was, in my opinon, poor for moths, compared to previous years. However it did have a few garden highlights. Our second ever Feeston Moth on the 06th was one of those. 2 White Points on the same night f...

Continuing with a few photo's from June 2019.

June 2019. June can be the month when we run around like a headless chicken. Usually there is so much wildlife on offer, including good species of both Butterflies and Moths, but this year it was, or seemed, quieter. We did get a good start with 9 Small Pearl Borders, 25 Small Heaths, 4 Dingy Skippe...

May can be an exciting month with many things happening at the same time. For us the month started with another visit to Oare Marshes where 6 Emperor Moths were still present, along with Nightingale, Lesser Whitethroat and 12 Yellow Wagtails. it was nice to see 3 Hobby's, but the fact that they were...

April can be a very interesting month with winter visitors leaving and summer visitors arriving. With decent weather it certainly makes you feel that you should be out there looking, and looking we certainly were. We started with a 1st winter Crane at Dungeness that remained for three weeks, althoug...