After a lovely warm day I decided to take the short trip up to Barming Woods to track down the Nightjar I'd found last week. At 21:30 I found the Nightjar churring from it's favoured song perch and watched it as it moved from perch to perch, clapping it's wings each time it launched itself into the dying light for the next 30 minutes or so. I managed a couple of record shots of this fantastic, crepuscular creature! 
Orange Hawkweed (Pilosella aurantiacum)
White-legged damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes)
Common Blue and White-legged Damselflies were all on the wing, and the first Orange Hawkweeds of the year basked in the sun. Back home a Slow Worm was found under the kid's playground matting - much the kid's delight!
Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis)
A warm, sunny day turned up some good butterfly records on the East Malling Research Station with a continous stream of Painted Ladies heading WNW. A worn Small Copper and Common Blue were also found.
Two Mediterranian and one Black-headed Gulls dropped down on newly ploughed land on the eastern end of East Malling Research Station. The flow of Painted Ladies continued unabated throughout the day with 42 counted in less than 30 minutes at midday.
The influx of Painted Ladies was very noticeable today with a peak count of 14 counted in 1 minute through my garden in Barming. Of the hundreds seen only two stopped feed.
I thought it had gone quiet of late, and when I went to the back of the garden I discovered why - a dead Song Thrush, the one that had most likely been singing from the trees at dawn and dusk over the last few weeks. A sad sight indeed and a real sense of loss. As a kid they'd been as common as muck and I took them for granted, but since their decline I came to really appreciate what beautiful birds they are (notice the orange on the underwing, something I'd never noticed before). A feeling also felt for the equally 'uncommon' Small Tortoiseshell butterfly.
An extremley windy day with a cold NE wind blowing across the orchards. Not much to report except a couple of Swifts sliding through the wind over the strawberry plot on the Research Station land.
Another trip out to Teston, again along the River Medway from Barming Bridge but with my wife and kids. No sign of yesterday's Mandarin Duck, but good numbers of Yellowhammers and Whitethroat again.
Banded Demoiselles were on the wing, with a smattering of butterflies, including 2x Comma, 3x Peacock, 8+ Green-veined Whites, 2 Large Whites and a Brown Argus (or female Common Blue?). 
Back on patch a early evening/dusk walk along the River Medway between Barming and Teston Bridges. Lots of Yellowhammers and Common Whitethroats in song.
A Green Carpet moth posed in the lush undergrowth, not that well camoflauged despite it's grue hues. A Cuckoo was calling, and was seen, at the back of the houses on South Street, Barming. 
Further along the river, just west of Barming Bridge I noticed a duck skulking under the overhanging willows and when it finally emerged I was pleased to see it was a female Mandarin Duck a new tick for me in Barming. I've seen them near the river at Beltinge near the Hop Fram so I shouldn't be too suprised to find one on the Medway. It was very elusive and in the dying light I only managed a rather blurred record shot.
Just before Teston I checekd for Barn Owls near the box they were nesting in last year. No luck, not a sound, I'll keep checking though. A lone Swift flickered fast above the river like some scythed-winged bat, and a couple of Swallows dipped down to the river, rippling it with their beaks. Finally a fox peered over the railway embankment to check what was making the rabbits bolt. Still hoping for Spotted Flycatcher, Turtle Dove and Barn Owl that frequented this stretch last year.
Taking Greenie's advice from yesterday (not to birdwatch from a bike) I went orchid hunting in the car. One of the rare occasions I seem to have the car nowadays so I went off patch to the nearby North Downs where I hoped for a good number of Orchids. 
