Tawny Pinion lying on a plank of wood
Going slightly against the grain of the ‘moth plank’
Tawny Pinion last night at Littlestone garden (SE Kent)
New for the year and about one every other year for the garden
#TeamMoth
The 2021 record was in a wonderful little garden up the road in Littlestone 🕺😂
Around 3,000 Brent Geese passed Dungeness by 09.30 with thousands more throughout the rest of the morning….
Had to try and do a short video of a group passing the Point
#KentBirding
Dungeness sign in the fog
The Dungeness seawatchers are not happy again - with another thick fog morning…. 🤦
#KentBirding
Shepherd’s Cress - Dungeness
Shepherd’s Cress - Dungeness
Shepherd’s Cress - Dungeness
Shepherd’s Cress - Dungeness
On the vegetated shingle across Dungeness NNR, SE Kent - many plants of Teesdalia nudicaulis (Shepherd’s Cress) are in flower this early spring
#WildflowerHour
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Early Thorn on a plank of wood
Last few nights in the Littlestone garden (SE Kent) the moth numbers have crept up slowly but the variety has stayed very much the same (Quaker City..)
No migrant moths with the Saharan dust either.
New for the year Early Thorn
#TeamMoth
Old shed in the fog - Dungeness
Male Yellowhammer -.Dungeness
Foggy on Dungeness this morning with a walk around producing a few crests, Chiffchaff, Siskin and Brambling over
Highlight was a ray of sunshine - a male Yellowhammer dropped in by the Old Lighthouse
A scarce bird on the Point now and only hanging on as a breeder at Lydd/New Romney
#KentBirding
March Moth - Littlestone
Littlestone (SE Kent) garden actinic moth trap is jogging along in early March
Best night this year for moths but not the dizzy heights of some inland wooded sites
First March Moth for a number of years in the garden
A total of 15 moths of 8 species - a good mix for coastal suburbia
#TeamMoth
Sleeping male American Wigeon in Kent (Scotney gravel Pit)
Sleeping Male American Wigeon in East Sussex (Scotney Gravel Pit)
After gone missing for around two and half weeks the male American Wigeon reappeared at the S bend, Scotney main gravel pit late am.
Found while chatting to Gary and Bazza about this and that. Sleeping in Kent it then drifted off into East Sussex and was still sleeping lunchtime
#KentBirding
He was invited to hear high pitched bird calls and to show us birds through the tricky tree landscape…. 🤦😂
Large Tortoiseshell crowd - Kent
Male Crossbill - Kent Wood
Trees in a wood in Kent
Madeira cake ready to be eaten
The Wednesday Birder Club went up to the woods this lunchtime to escape the fog and took Honorary Member/Padawan Jacob with us
At least two Large Tortoiseshells, beautiful pair of Crossbills, Goshawk and lots of trees
Finished a complete Madeira cake - washed down with tea in the spring sunshine
Seat outside the seawatch hide Dungeness early morning
Incredibly quiet on the early seawatch at Dungeness
It was so calm - sat out the front of the hide
Counted Porpoises instead - highest of the year so far with 26
Dungeness Seawatch hide this morning
‘Well done’ Welsh Cakes in a tub in Seawatch hide, Dungeness
The Dabblers are moving….
Dungeness Seawatch till 11.35
378 Pintail, with 158 Shoveler, 2 Gadwall, 10 Teal, 164 Brent Geese, 97 Common Scoter, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and a female Eider
Plus 2 Sandwich Terns and
138 Red-throated Divers
Me and Martin ate all the Welsh Cakes🤦
#KentBirding
I’ll bring down those two well done ones in the top right of the plate 😂
Welsh Cakes with a jar of Daffodils behind
Welsh Cakes on a plate
Finally made a batch of Welsh Cakes for the big day - if you are wondering what they are….
Slightly well done with an irregular shape to them but they tasted fine 😬🤦
#StDavidsDay
#WelshCakes
Seawatch hide at Dungeness
Dengemarsh Hide view at RSPB reserve - Dungeness
Dungeness Estate sign
Old Lighthouse at Dungeness
February across the wider Dungeness recording area came in above average with the 2026 total now on 148 species
Highlight was the American Wigeon but Bean Geese ventured into the area for one afternoon.
Brief Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes, Sand Martin and Red Kite were highlights
#KentBirding
A rain Guage with a plastic fish looking on
February has been another wet month at Littlestone, Romney Marsh, Kent
The monthly total was 136mm
Compared to the last three months
Jan - 158mm
Dec - 91mm
Nov - 101mm
However, due to the drought conditions in 2025 - the watertable is not as high as previous winters
@metoffice.gov.uk
Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! Happy St David's Day! Here are some Cennin Pedr (Wild Daffodils) I found yesterday in the Conwy valley…
Yep the bigger and louder they are - the better ! 🤦
New Grasshoppers and Allies UK book with selection of other books on subject
Looking forward to browsing through this new present to myself which arrived today
You can never have enough ‘Grasshopper books’ on the shelf
A beautiful upgrade and valuable reference - highly recommended
@kentgrasshoppers.bsky.social
@kentfieldclub.bsky.social
Twin-spotted Quaker
The Littlestone (SE Kent) garden moth trap produced 4 moths last night. The reality of coastal suburbia moth trapping…
However, one was this wonderful
Twin-spotted Quaker
Only my 2nd garden record
#TeamMoth
Wednesday Birder Club at Rye Harbour
Red Roof Hut- Rye Harbour
Rye Harbour view from Denny Hide
Madeira Cake which was not eaten at Rye Harbour this pm
The ‘Wednesday Birder Club’ spent a few hours at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve today
Dartford Warblers, the wintering Spotted Redshank, Red-breasted Merganser and a pleasant selection of waders and duck
Ran out of time for cake and tea - so I started eating it when I got home 🤦
#sussexbirding
Small Tortoiseshell - Dungeness
As no doubt many will be posting their butterfly sightings today and tomorrow
My first butterfly of the 2026 season was a Small Tortoiseshell along the Pilot Path, Dungeness this afternoon
@savebutterflies.bsky.social
@dungenessbirdobs.bsky.social
A number of ditches Toads have historically bred in over the decades in Greatstone…
Ones behind the Primary School and others up the railway line near end of Dunes Rd
However, Toads have been in decline across the Marsh/Dungeness over the last 30years unfortunately
One of the more lethal grassy slopes I have been on in recent years
Disappeared down it - while Lorna sat on the bench at the top eating her sarnies none the wiser 🤦
In Scotland, no patches of snow from winter 2024/2025 survived to winter 2025/2026
- This is the fourth year in a row that all snow has completely disappeared
I miss snow
#climatecrisis
HT @carbonbrief.org
rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
It’s a start
Plank needs to be wide enough and long enough for wiggle room and better than a green leaf 🤦
Yes read that somewhere recently about the two species so it was released in the front garden for a happy life
Three Common Quakers
Agonopterix heracliana - Littlestone, SE Kent Not dissected
The ‘moth plank’ for photographing moths on - with a selection of pots Found after gone missing for 7 months
My 2nd moth trap foray of the year
Actinic in Littlestone garden, SE Kent
Windy, rain but mild didn’t drop below 10
4 moths - 3 Common Quakers and A. heracliana (for me)
But the good news - I found ‘moth plank’ in a garage reorganisation last week after gone missing for seven months
#Teammoth
What a beautiful series of pics to a wonderful finale….
