Railway walk

The moth trap held a record breaking 120 Lunar Underwings with a total of 146 moths of 9 species, more than any other night of the year.
I had to go into town this afternoon so I decided to walk back along the old railway line. It's nice to see the difference as the season progresses. The Oak trees are looking tired and there are increasing bright spots with hips, haws and rowan berries ripening along the track. A Speckled Wood fluttered along keeping me company for a short spell and a young frog hopped across in front of me. I also spotted this shield bug which, I think, is a Dock leaf shield bug. (taken with my iPhone)

Otherwise it was very quiet with 1 chiffchaff and 3 robins along the whole 1+ mile walk.

Butterfly quest

With the number of chiffs much less and a beautiful day we decided to go to Kingsdown for the Long-tailed Blues. We met in the Hamstreet car park and headed for the Lees. We parked just below the golf course and walked along the cliffs searching every sweet pea as we went.
It took a while but eventually one was found. It stayed for a short while before flitting off.
A peregrine swooped along the cliffs,  turned and flew back and then disappeared over the edge.
Two more Long-tails were seen spiralling and flitting about over a wild grass 'meadow' but following news from others we headed further along to where a slightly tattier female was much more obliging allowing photographs and great views.

 There was also a supporting cast of Whites, Common and Adonis Blues.

We returned home after a lovely afternoon.

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Chiffchaffs galore

Saturday at the Observatory was busy with migrating birds. Although they were mainly Chiffchaffs there were also Blackcaps and Reed Warblers. There were flocks of hirundines across the marsh all heading south.
Monday again saw lots of chiffs and ringing carried on until the afternoon. It looks like a good year for fungi in the trapping area with controversus and agarics under many of the willows.
There were still 100s of chiffs around on Monday with hirundines across the marsh and 2 sparrow hawks as we returned home.


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Recent bits and pieces

Over the last few weeks we have been moving slowly deeper into autumn with daylight slipping away. The moth trap has held Scalloped Oaks, Old Lady, Frosted Orange, White Point, Red Underwing, Angleshades and Bulrush Wainscot among the Large Yellow Underwings, Square-spot Rustics and increasing numbers of Lunar Underwings, one of my favourite autumn moths with their variety of colour and pattern.












One of the stranger visitors to the moth trap was this green bug.
A call from DW alerted me to a semi-palmated sandpiper which I managed to see from Firth hide and a Pectoral Sandpiper also visited for a few days. There have been up to 4 Blacknecked Grebes and several Barwits and Greenshank probing the mud in front of Firth hide which is looking really good for migrating waders.









The numbers of hirundines has been impressive over the last few days with Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin feeding up over the pits in the warmer air. Butterflies are getting scarce but we have had a Holly Blue laying eggs on the ivy in the hedge and a Peacock sunbathing in the shed doorway as well as several whites still flitting about.

Down at the observatory we found 33 Autumn Ladies Tresses in 3 different sites, which is a good number for the area. Although there haven't been any this year around the gun in Littlestone, hundreds have emerged along the verge on Madeira Road.

Moth morning and Wryneck

As Saturday was a moth morning on the RSPB I potted up several of my moths that I thought might be of interest, such as Brimstone, Green Carpet and Scalloped Oak before setting off for Dungeness. The drive across the marsh was pleasant but nearly birdless. We put the moths on a table before walking across to the accommodation block where we rescued a hawk moth from a spider's web before emptying the trap. There weren't a huge number of moths but the children enjoyed looking at them. There was a much greater selection in the trap from Boulderwall, with several Gold spots, a moth I hardly ever get.
I went on to the obs for a cup of tea and then drove down to Galloways as the Wryneck was reported as showing well. When we got there there was only 1 other person there. We checked the area where it had last been seen and eventually it appeared on a gate post, before flying down and re-appearing in the top of the bush. It showed on and off for the next half an hour before flying further down the hedge line.

Butterflies and bees in the forest

The moth trap continues to pull in a good selection of moths with 95 moths of 24 species including 2 Black Arches, Pebble Hooktip, Bloodvein, 2 Light Emerald, Orange Swift and Early Thorn among the Straw Dots, Lesser Broad Bordered Yellow-underwings and Square-spot Rustics.

With the weather staying warm and bright we decided to go for a wander in the west side of Hemsted Forest. The carpark was nearly empty as we parked in a shady spot. Not expecting to see a great deal I didn't take my camera so these pics were taken on my iphone.
The area around the paths from the carpark were covered in piles of dog crap in various stages of decomposition - why can't people at least clear it out of the way?
There were a few bird noises with wren, willow warbler and green woodpecker but nothing much to see. The main ride has been cleared back in various places and this had allowed a variety of wild flowers to flourish. This, in turn, had lots of bees and several species of butterfly feeding on it, including Common Blue, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown and a very obliging Clouded Yellow. A really lovely sight to see. The ant hills were also very active.

As we walked I mused about the subtle differences between this conifer forest and those we were in in Finland recently. Both wee very quiet but our forest had flower banks along the rides and heather growing in big clumps, butterflies and an amazing number of dragonflies cruising around in groups. In Finland the understorey tends to be lower with mosses, lichens and rotting wood in the gaps. But the greatest difference, I think, is the atmosphere which is cleaner, fresher and very definitely remote. (and no dog walkers to pollute the pathways)

 

Summer catchup

Close after my trip to Dorset I had booked a trip to Finland for Wild Brown Bear with hopes for Wolf and Wolverine. Not a huge number of birds but flocks of Waxwings and Cranes were nice with Osprey and several Honey Buzzards being seen.
Over the last few weeks the moth trap has attracted quite a few moths, averaging between 70-80 most nights with a high of 125 on Friday. Most are normal but a few less usual ones for my trap, such as Spectacle, Orange swift, Lunar and Dusky Thorn and Oak and Pebble Hook-tips.Very few Yellow underwings seem to have been about, apart from Lesser Broad-bordered and last night the were 15 Flame shoulders and 24 Square-spot Rustics.



It does seem to have been a good year for butterflies, compared to the last few. We had 2 common blues which are very unusual, as well as both Whites, Speckled Wood, Small Torts and a Comma.
A visit to Dungeness yesterday was very wet but I did manage to see the juv cuckoo, 2 Pied Flycatchers, 4 Wheatears, several Willow Warblers and Whitethroats as well as 4/6 Whinchats and a couple of Stonechats.



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