Tuesday 20th April

No chance to check the  local patch today but driving towards East Malling this morning I saw a lone Swallow perched on the wires opposite the North Pole Pub, Teston.  Later I stopped by New Hythe briefly and was pleased to hear a Nightingale as I stepped out the car.  A couple of minutes later I was watching it singing, out on on an exposed perch, the sun catching it's rusty-red tail...I'd forgotten how reddy/brown these little gems were.  If only I'd had a camera!

An omission from yesterday's report was the sighting of the Bald Birder briefly visting his old breeding territory before migrating North!

Sunday 19th April

Back in Kent and a brief walk around New Hythe with the kids while my wife wenting shopping at nearby Tescos. Managed 3x Nightingale and 2x Blackcap near Brook House, 2x Slow Worms and 5x Smooth (?) Newts on the East Scrub, 1x Common Buzzard over (thanks Eddie), 2x Whitethroat and 1x Willow Warbler. An Orange-tip butterfly flew across the path through the West Scrub. A fourth Nightingale was heard near entrance to the new housing estate on the east side of the Tesco Lake.

Spot the Cuckoo!

Back in Barming I managed a brief visit to the orchards between South Street and Rectory Lane. 5x Peacock, 1x Speckled Wood and 2x Orange-tip butterflies were seen in the late afternoon sun. A Whitethroat babbled across the railway line near the river and a fine Cuckoo was heard calling, rather croakly, and seen perched and feeding in the apple trees (apparently three birds have been in the valley between East Farleigh and Teston). One of the south-facing banks was smothered in Cowslips.