Monday 4th July 2011

About time I got back into it.  A few sightings from today with an update for end-May through June to follow.

Nice sunny cycle to work, what looked like a fleck of dust on top of an oak tree in Oaken Wood transpired to be a distant Purple Hairstreak.  Chiffchaff and Blackcap still calling and a couple of Little Owls in their usual location at Kiln Barn Farm.

News of a Lesser Emperor dragonfly or three saw me heading off patch at lunchtime.  John Clements was bundled in the car on news of 3x Med Gulls that were strutting and feeding behind his house (a private field on the East Malling Research site).

We arrived in New Hythe to be met by Phil Sharp fresh from a soiree in Suffolk, and Jill and John Brook collecting exuviae - the Lesser Emperors were less apparent, although a Odanata pursuing a Red Admiral butterfly was a 'possible'.

Back in East Malling some butterflies of note flitted across my path; a single Ringlet (first on the research land for me) for me kept a Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral and Peacock company in the afternoon heat.  Oaken Wood turned up a Comma and a White Admiral (seen to lay eggs).

Footage of White Admiral to follow.

Friday 30th July 2010

A couple more moths caught overnight included a Willow Herald (?) and Riband Band. 

Cycling into work was met with all the other species; 2x Little Owl (although one didn't want to pose as normal!), family groups of Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Great Tit, Linnets with Swallows and 2x Bullfinches all thrown into the mix. 

At lunchtime I did a circuit of Oaken Woods, nr Barming.  Butterflies were the order of the day with Gatekeepers (60+) predominating, but Speckled Wood (x3), Red Admiral (x3), White Admiral (x1) - in good nick on a buddeleia near Gallagher's Underpass, Meadow Brown (x16), Peacock (x9), Large Whites (x7), Common Blue (x5), Holly Blue (x3) and best of all a Silver-washed Fritillary. 

This only my second SW Frit on patch, but it wasn't hanging around and I struggled to keep up with on my bike!  It touched down briefly a couple of times, long enough to get a record shot.  It was seen in almost exactly the same location as the one I had 2 years - is there a small undiscovered colony in these extensive woods or am I seeing roaming males?! 

Southern Hawker

Migrant Hawker

Lots of Dragonflies on the wing as well with Emperor, Migrant, Southern and Brown Hawkers and even a Black-tailed Skimmer.  Only one moth, a Rosy Footman. 

Going back into the woods I was suprised to see how dank they'd remained in this recent heatwave.  Lots of puddles, skated over by Water Boatmen (how did they find themselves on puddles in the middle of a wood?!).  Also on the track verges the first mushrooms of the season (any suggestions for ID welcomed!)

Mushroom A

Mushroom B

Mushroom C

Sunday 25th July 2010

A Hedgehog returned to the garden last night and 5+ Silver Y moths were caught feeding in the security light that beamed on to the Verbena bonarensis.  I seem to be seeing these everywhere, along with Red Admirals, definetly a recent influx.

I visited Wouldham briefly this morning to see if I couldn't catch up with one or more of the seals that have been hauling themselves out on to the mud at low tide.  There was evidence they'd be there (I later learnt 2 had slipped into the water at 08:00, an hour before I arrived), but I was content with 2x Turtle Dove, 3x Common Sandpiper, 1x Little Egret, 10+ Lapwing.

Back at home in Barming I was suprised to find a Whitethroat in my lean-to!  A first for both my house list and after I had eventually captured it, for my garden list!

Later in the afternoon I visited Igtham Mote with my parents - a Lancaster Bomber overhead, a very worn White Admiral and a Pied Wagtail visiting a nest high up in the main building. 

The lanes back to my parents cottage near Chart Sutton were alive with House Sparrows, Linnets and Yellowhammers and returning along the same lane near Church Hill, Boughton Monchelsea at dusk I was pleased to have a Barn Owl flying ahead of me.

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.

Wednesday 8th July

Well couldn't resist it any longer - back to blogging. More time on my hands this month so here we go:

A mixed swarm of Swallows, Swifts and House Martins, about a dozen of each, swept over a mustard field next to the strawberry fields (east side of East Malling Research). Often they wandered, speckling the strawberry with their fast-moving shadows but when the cloud rolled over then they disappeared as quickly as they'd come.

Into Barming Woods at lunchtime, White Admiral my quarry and I wasn't disappointed. Only a single this time, quite worn but very approachable. A couple of freshly emerged Gatekeepers, my first for this site this year, bounded along ahead of my bike.