Monday 17th June

Back to Ditton Quarry at lunchtime, probably the first time in 3 months! Lots of Common Blue and a smattering of Gatekeepers and Painted Ladies. The south-west corner of the quarry was alive with warblers, Chiffchaffs mostly but good numbers of Common Whitethroats, mostly juveniles. On the way back to work I caught sight of a bird looping out of an elderberry bush, stopping in my tracks I was delighted to see a Spotted Flycatcher darting around the bush - my first for the Quarry.

Cycling home I saw a the Little Owl hunched up in the girders of Kiln Barn Farm barn and then newar tghe water tower (just north of North Street, Barming) I heard a call I faintly recognised, but wasn'y 100% with. It sounded like a very loud Bullfinch, not that Bullfinches are ever very loud. Creeping through the undergrowth I caught sight of what looked like a cross between a juv Common Rosefinch and a Corn Bunting! Of course it was a juv Bullfinch, entirely grey-brown unlike it's distinctively marked , and colourful, parents and so heavy-billed. Good to see they've bred successfully again this year.

Noticed this Convolvulus flower in the orchards this evening, presumably munched on when still in bud.

Thursday 16th July

A great day for butterflies with 6x White Admirals, 20+ Peacocks and a flush of newly-emerged Painted Ladies around the rides in Barming Wood. A total of 10 species of butterflies were seen in a 30 minute ride at lunchtime. A pair of Bullfinches and a Little Owl added avian interest.

This evening the Spotted Flycatcher did acrobatics from the TV aerial as I enjoyed an al fresco dinner in my garden in South Street, Barming and a pristine female Southern Hawker found its way into my lean-to ahead of the approaching thunderstorm.

Monday 13th July

Good numbers of butterflies on the wing in Barming Woods at lunchtime with 3x White Admiral, 6x Peacock and a Red Admiral sipping up nectar from the racemes of the newly opened Buddelia flowers.

At home in South Street, Barming this evening I was pleased to see the Spotted Flycatcher in action again, looping around the speckled shade of the trees at the back of the garden. Every garden should have one, those neglected nooks, shaded by big trees, that become the dumping ground for old wood, general refuse and compost heaps have got to be some of the 'nature reserves' in the country!

A Goldcrest made a long awaited return, flitting furtively around the branches of the same trees.

Friday 10th July

A busy day at work, so no butterflies or hirundines today. Back home and refreshed by a beer I wandered around the garden contemplating what a lot of work needed to be done! A gull call made me look up, adult Med Gull flapping overhead heading NW - well that was nice, and unexpected! They seem to be everywhere in NW Kent at the moment, breeding like buggery on those unhabitated islands in the Medway/Thames estuary no doubt. Watching the gull fly away the Starlings and Collared Doves on the chimneys and TV aerials caught my eye, this how birding used to be in surburban Birmingham! No Med Gulls up there or Hawfinches on the tiles at Christmas! Then I heard a thin, high-pitched 'tsee' - occasionally Pied Wagtails run the ridge tiles, but this was different. Scanning the roof I was delighted, no, well-chuffed to see the head and thin bill of a Spotted Flycatcher poking over the roof (just right of the chimney - blends in well eh!).

I'd been searching out one of these fantastic little birds for the last 2 months and drew a blank at all the usual haunts. This bird had come to me, an added bonus to my 'ridge tile' and 'garden' list (though still savouring the pair of Black Redstart that head my 'work ridge tile' list!). It performed wonderfully, sallying from roof to branch to fence to runner bean pole over and over again. Overhead a group Swifts and House Martins efficiently cleaned up what the flycatcher had missed.