Butterflies: November
Wednesday 12th A Speckled Wood was in the Whitehouse. Saturday 8th A Clouded Yellow was in the Haven and a Comma on the Estate. Thursday 6th Two Speckled Woods were on the Green Wall and a Peacock on the Estate.
Dragonflies: November
Wednesday 12th It looked like it would be one of the last sunny days for a while. Between us there were over 30 Common Darters recorded on the Estate. We couldn’t find a Migrant Hawker but the ringing team smashed our latest ever record for Willow Emerald Damselfly with one in the Haven. Saturday 8th Two Migrant Hawkers and six…
Moths: November
Sunday 9th Cold. At 2.5°C there wasn’t going to be much flying but ten moths of nine species were present equally between the two traps. A lovely fresh male December Moth was the obvious highlight, a species that we can struggle to catch as overnight conditions are not brilliant during their flight period. Saturday 8th Back to normalcy after the previous…
Ringing: November
Tuesday 11th We grabbed a short gap between the wind and rain to get a few nets up Although there were lots of Blackbirds around first thing they quickly moved on and only four were caught. Firecrest continued their great run with another three today. The other highlight was a female Sparrowhawk. The rest were singles of Blackcap, Blue Tit,…
Birds: November
Wednesday 12th A very showy Merlin was on the fence posts in the Dragonfly Pond Field and later in the Whitehouse. Presumably this is the same lingering bird seen on the Estate yesterday and on Restharrow Scrape a week ago. Field views show the bird is ringed so if any lucky photographer manages to read the code we’ll be very…
Birds: October
Friday 31st A Great Northern Diver was offshore along with 300 Gannets, a Razorbill, four Sandwich Terns, and 25 Kittiwakes. Thursday 30th A GLOSSY IBIS on the path at Roaring Gutter was a strange sight on RSPB Worth marshes. There were a handful of Redpolls and Siskins around the area, plus a Firecrest on the Estate. Wednesday 29th A Black…
Moths: October
Friday 31st There were six moths of six species including an unseasonal Caloptilla stigmatella, likely disturbed while trying to overwinter nearby. The weekend is a mix of wet and wind and unsuitable for trapping. Thursday 30th Another cold night at 4.1°C and there were accordingly 20 moths of 14 species. Another Merveille du Jour was the highlight and there was…
Ringing: October
Wednesday 22nd A lovely, calm, day with warm sunny intervals – the lull before the storm. Today might well be the last time for about a week when conditions are suitable to ring and it was pleasing to be joined by some of our trainees. It was an interesting morning with 95 new birds plus two birds with rings from…
Butterflies: October
Tuesday 21st Another Clouded Yellow was on the Estate. Sunday 19th Singles of Wall and Red Admiral were on RSPB Worth marshes. Saturday 18th A helice Clouded Yellow was at the northern edge of New Downs, bordering the Sampher. Thursday 9th Two Clouded Yellows were on the Estate, one in the Whitehouse and another in the Dragonfly Pond Fields. Monday…
Dragonflies: October
Tuesday 21st Six Common Darters were on the Estate and another three at Mary Bax, with a Migrant Hawker also at the latter. Thursday 16th A Migrant Hawker was on New Downs. Tuesday 14th There’s been very little to report recently as we draw down to the end of the season. Two Common Darters were on RSPB Worth marshes today.…