The Butterfly season has really kicked off the last few days. 21 Duke of Burgundy seen at Denge Wood today (not by me), and a few Dingy Skippers and Grizzled Skippers. Wall Browns seen at Samphire Hoe on Tuesday. At various sites in East and South Kent we have seen Green Hairstreaks, Dingy Skipper, ...

For the first time in many years we did not record a single Butterfly in December. There have been many days of either very cold, or very wet weather here in Kent. We have seen quiet a few bees and other insects but not the hoped for butterfly. We had a few November sightings of Red Admrals and Peac...

Part Two

Despite my best of intentions I am finding it increasing difficult to find the time to update my diary. Hence the long gap since the last update in August. We still get out a lot to see wildlife but I am all behind on the decorating. Anyway enough of the excuses. I suppose the highlight of this peri...

Long Tailed Blue.

Not sure if reported anywhere else but a Long Tailed Blue was photographed at Sandwich Bay on the 28th September (see the Observatory web site). The weather forecast for the rest of this week does not bode well for its rediscovery.

A few photos taken over the last three months. Bearing in mind that Pete feels that the website, left unaltered, probably because of the large amount of photos in Personal Diaries although he does not say, is again nearing the upper limit of files allowed, I have culled them a little. Leaving off Bu...

That could be an interesting visit Pete. If the Wildlife Trust has the paperwork to prove their ownership then slightly baffling is why they tolerate signs being erected on their land. Any other land owner would remove them immediately, as it would encourage the person to consider they have a claim....

Thanks Pauline. I still have not had time to go through my photos, but I take this opportunity to show photos taken on our trip to the Brecks by our guide and good friend LG. Anyway, he has a far better camera than my bridge camera so they will be of greater quality. These were all taken on the 7th ...

A friend visited mid week and says that Scotch Argus are on the wing near the viaduct.

A most enjoyable read, and I for one am very happy to appreciate your sense of humour and nostalgia for many more years.

The Diary comes out of hibernation . It's nearly 3 months since I updated our diary. We have been so busy doing whats seems very little. In between the gardening and paint brush we have managed to see a lot of wildlife. Too much to update so I will summarize the highlights. May Highlights. This has...

Hi Goldie. Dungeness has been quieter this year for butterflies in general but especially Small Copper. The one exception has been the Small Skipper which has numbered in the hundreds. I agree with Allan that your best chance of Clouded Yellow and Painted Lady is around the Power Station perimeter c...

Twice out of Kent. It's been a while since I updated my diary. To be honest it has been fairly quiet and good wildlife days have been few. We have had one or two really sunny and warm days but in the whole it has been cold with a biting North or North East wind. One notably feature has been the lac...

Thanks Goldie. You normally visit Kent in the Summer months and regrettably Dungeness, and indeed most of Kent, is poor for Owls during the Summer. I will bear you in mind and let you know of any before your next visit. Little Owl and Tawny Owl are present all year but more difficult to find in Summ...

Butterfly species Number Two. Joining our sighting of Red Admiral in January is now Brimstone in February. In fact two Brimstones on the 19th February near Faversham. It was a warm sunny day, although we were still a little surprised to see Brimstone in mid February. What a welcome sight and a good ...

May I add my voice to thank Neil for all the hard work he has been doing this winter on behalf of all wildlife, but in particular Butterflies. It looks like many Sussex woods have benefited from Neil and his chainsaw. Lets hope that the weather in 2017 will respond and help facilitate a big recovery...

The wonders of DNA. In my update of the 25th December I mentioned a species of Stonechat at Dungeness that had been identified scientifically using DNA from a poo sample. To cut a long story short, and following queries from a number of birders, the laboratory ran the test again from another collect...

Happy New Year to all. Well, December was not unexpectedly quiet from a Butterfly perspective. We did see 2 Red Admirals and a Peacock, but missed out on a few sightings of Brimstone in the Hamstreet area. One or two Common Darters managed to linger on into the start of the month but a few early fro...

Late Autumn/ early Winter 2016. I would really like to say that this period was great here in Kent, but the reality was that it was rather under whelming. Most Kent birders got their annual fix by travelling to Spurn for the almost mythical Siberian Accentor. Present for almost a week it attracted ...

9th September 2016 to 15th October 2016(yes, a bit behind with the news). I would like to say that the period in question has been dominated by lots of goodies, but unfortunately that is not the case. Everything has been hard work and after a series of fruitless nights I have even put the moth trap ...