Dragonflies: July
Friday 10th Three Brown Hawkers, one Norfolk Hawker, two Southern Hawkers, five Ruddy Darters, two Common Darters, 12 Emperors, one Scarce Chaser, one Black-tailed Skimmer, two Banded Demoiselles, one Azure Damselfly, four Common Blue Damselflies, 17 Small Red-eyed Damselflies, and one Willow Emerald Damselfly were on the Green Wall. Wednesday 8th Three Southern Migrant Hawkers were on the Estate. Tuesday…
Butterflies: July
Friday 17th A total of 236 butterflies were recorded on the BMS Transect, though 179 of those were Gatekeepers. Meadow Brown and Wall were the only other species into double-figures with 19 and ten, respectively. Clouded Yellows were on the seafront and Restharrow Scrape. Friday 10th A mid-morning walk along the Green Wall produced a Comma, two Speckled Woods, one…
Ringing: July
Friday 17th The weather ignored the forecast and started cloudy with the northerly breeze still hanging on. This was great for us as we had planned to do work in the heligoland and main ringing area to remove overhanging vegetation. This we did successfully without being fried. There was a bit of ringing activity. First of all a juvenile Jackdaw…
Moths: July
Saturday 18th The northerly is slowly abating and with complete cloud cover the temperature did not fall below 16°C. Although the count was very similar- 285- the variety was greater with 90 species. Diamondback was down to 15. Other migrants were Small Mottled Willow-13, Silver Y -three, Rusty-dot Pearl-two, and singles of Scarce Bordered Straw, Bordered Straw, Dark Swordgrass and…
Birds: July
Friday 17th Five Sand Martins, three Yellow Wagtails, and a Willow Warbler were on the Estate. Autumn creeps closer… Thursday 16th A juvenile Yellow Wagtail was on Restharrow Scrape, a Cattle Egret was at the Drove, and a Tufted Duck dropped into the Dragonfly Ponds. Six Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper, and a Ruff were on RSPB Worth Marshes. Wednesday…
Moths: May
Wednesday 13th Not as cold as last night with a balmy ( barmy) minimum of 4°C. The car park caught most moths with 34 of 22 species. This included a Dark Swordgrass and two Silver Ys. A trap in the Haven had a Diamondback and new, for the year, a May Highflyer. Having seen some of the completly depleted hedgerows…
Ringing: May
Wednesday 13th It was windier than hoped but still okay before thundery and icy showers arrived mid-morning. The attempt was rewarded with a variety of new birds. This included the first juvenile Chaffinch and Long-tailed Tits (8). A new, full adult, Blackbird and a Chiffchaff were unexpected. It will be interesting to see if the colour ringing of the Blackbird…
Birds: May
Wednesday 13th In among the Restharrow Scrape gullfest were 43 Mediterranean Gulls, a Kittiwake, four Little Gulls, and a Sandwich Tern. Despite the bouts of heavy rain and even hail at least 26 Red Kites flew through. Another Kittiwake was briefly on RSPB Worth Marshes and wader picked up in Pegwell Bay with at least 150 Ringed Plovers present. Tuesday…
Dragonflies: May
Sunday 10th Five Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies and four Dainty Damselflies were on the Estate. Thursday 7th Our first nine Dainty Damselflies and earliest ever Red-eyed Damselfly were on the Estate and a Large Red Damselfly in the Haven was a scarce record away from their Worth stronghold. Over on New Downs there was our first Four-spotted Chaser. Tuesday 5th One…
Butterflies: May
Saturday 9th Four Painted Ladies were on the Estate. Thursday 7th Decent variety on the Green Wall saw 17 Green-veined Whites, three Orange-tips, six Speckled Woods, two Holly Blues, one Common Blue, one Wall, two Painted Ladies, and two Red Admirals. Meanwhile a GREEN HAIRSTREAK was a great find on New Downs. Tuesday 5th Our first Common Blue was on…