Moths: October
Last Moth Evening of the year. Saturday October 10th Earlier Start time – 1630. All welcome, meet in the car park and see what was caught the previous night. This event is free, but donations are welcome. Wednesday 7th Despite some forecasts it was warm last night with a minimum of 15.1°C. This gave good conditions for moth activity and…
Dragonflies: October
Friday 2nd A fresh immature Red-veined Darter was seen in the Oasis.
Butterflies: October
Ringing: October
Wednesday 7th Despite the forecasts it was warmer last night but we could feel it cooling during the day as rain approached. Hopes that a switch in wind direction (to east) might bring in some new birds were thwarted and it was very quiet. Twenty eight birds were ringed, the best of these was a Lesser Whitethroat. There were 12…
Birds: October
Thursday 8th Adult Yellow-legged Gull was in the field between the Observatory/Farm and the Sandwich Toll booth. Waders on the pools on New Downs comprised three Ruffs, four Greenshanks, and three Grey Plovers, a Yellow Wagtail also flew over. Meanwhile, 95 Brent Geese and an Arctic Skua were offshore and a Wood Sandpiper over the Green Wall. Tuesday 6th Two…
Dragonflies: September
Friday 25th Attention was mostly looking at butterflies but 35 Common Darters and nine Migrant Hawkers were seen on the Estate. Monday 21st At least 30 Migrant Hawkers and 78 Common Darters were on the Estate. Wednesday 9th A breezy wander on RSPB Worth Marshes still produced 28 Migrant Hawkers and nine Common Darters. Tuesday 1st One Common Blue Damselfly,…
Moths: September
Tuesday 29th Although it was warm last night it rained almost continuously and the trap was not set. During the hot, humid day there was at least one Hummingbird hawk-moth feeding on the Verbena bonarensis. Monday 28th Some cloud and even a shower overnight kept the temperature up and the moon covered a bit. There were 142 moths of 30 species.…
Ringing: September
Tuesday 29th It rained through the night, heavily at times, this stopped migrant movement. By dawn the rain stopped but it appeared the only birds around were those which had not left last night. Thirty-nine were ringed, 21 were Blackcaps, 15 Chiffchaffs, two Robins and a Blackbird. The latter was probably local as it was an adult completing its moult.…
Butterflies: September
Friday 25th The last BMS Transect of the season produced only 18 butterflies. Most numerous were Speckled Wood and Wall. Wednesday 23rd A helice Clouded Yellow at Sandilands on Monday was interesting enough, but records of this rarer form do occur here intermittently. However, scrutiny of the photos later revealed a restricted amount of black on the trailing edge of…
Birds: September
Wednesday 30th Wet (mostly). Our first Redwing of autumn went over the Green Wall, a Tree Pipit flew over Prince’s Golf Course, and small pulses of hirundines came through. The recent rain pulled in two Ruff on RSPB Worth Marshes. Tuesday 29th A walk along the path behind the asparagus fields produced three Tree Sparrows and 38 Reed Buntings. The…