"Quercus"

Only ever seen Willow Tits on two occasions in Kent .A pair close to the derelict Eastwell church and a pair at Stodmarsh......probably both 40 + years ago........not a sniff anywhere since !....sadly long gone !

Nice ! .......getting increasingly harder to find in my neck of the woods (Kent) 4 in 24' and 9 in 25' ........and so far none in 26'.

After working at Dungeness ,seemed a shame not to nip into Orlestone.......as I was passing,on the way home .Arrived at half past three ,and back in the car by four, still lucky enough to see two Large Torts .Heres those two plus one from a couple of days back .

Good to see you were successful Russ ,had another myself yesterday away from Orlestone 👍

Glad you caught up with some ! had another in another wood away from Orlestone earlier .Saw a small flock of Crossbills there earlier on .......I didn,t see the Gos but heard it in Longrope.

Glad you caught up with some Owen !had another today away from Orlestone.

Although it was a short flying visit to the local woods and with fairly warm bright weather the butterflies were reluctant to "get going" but I did see 2 each Comma and Peacock +a single Large Tortoiseshell also 2 Orange Underwing moths.

Plenty of Bumblebees showing now in the local forest ,pleased to see a couple of Tree Bumble bees .....my first of the year. A lone young Fallow Deer "eyeballed me" from a distance .

Great pictures Bill 👍......not seen any yet this season.

Martin don,t know if its of interest but Large Torts are now out in good numbers in a few sects of Orlestone .Had one grounded this morning on a flying 1 hr visit .Faggs and Birchett (in particular)where I saw mine this morning +a flybye yesterday .Go up to the ride crossroads.....anywhere There !

Great song "Beautiful Daughter " !

Great shot that Ian ! 👍

Hello again Jon .....I was right Large Tortoiseshells (plural) reported today from Orlestone ,if you,re on facebook check out Kent Butterflies .

One reported today just up the road from me in central Ashford , wouldn,t be at all surprised if one or two appeared in Orlestone (somewhere in !)today .I,m sure you,re aware that several have been seen on the IOW,including 2 together....I have a feeling that this could be an interesting year !

Found a few Alba in the past .........but that one is certainly the palest .....a cracker !

Yes I should know better ! made it around to where the dwellings are on the far side .....and that was it ! ......Swamp !!
compensation ,excellent close views of a Cetti's Warbler by the bridge and good numbers of Med Gulls on the main lake.

Wrong choice today at #Conningbrook ! Boots or Wellies ,plumped for boots ....and quickly regretted it ! absolute swamp ! On the main lake numerous Herring,Bl headed and a single LBB Gull .30 distant "Small egrets",mostly Little +at least 2 Cattle,1 Cettis Warbler and some Summer plumaged Med Gulls.

👍 !

I,ll go for it Steve ! must try to get Tree Crickets and Large Coneheads this season ,the Coneheads now appear to be spreading (although possibly overlooked !) I,ve found Sickle -Bearers at Dunge .......and a colony beside Ashford FC,s,car park , a few years back, now trashed.

Just read it Steve (Good to see another "ND+B" post) your hearing situation mirrors mine exactly......right down to not hearing Crickets ! spoke to a Dunge regular a while back about a similar thing ,he,d just got an aid for his birding ......eye test in 3 weeks.......and maybe a hearing job as well

Slender-billed Curlew: shorebird lost forever Three decades on from the last documented sighting, Slender-billed Curlew was declared extinct a year ago. Arnoud van den Berg reflects on his experiences with this iconic bird at its final known wint...

This is a fascinating and utterly heartbreaking read. #ornithology #ukbirding

www.birdguides.com/articles/sle...

Today in the local forest... some sun at last ! 2 loud calling Ravens ,and a calling Tawny Owl .several Bullfinches (m+f),flushed a Woodcock ,3 Buzzards ,a small party of 5 Teal circled the pond and departed ! A few Redwings .4 GS Woodpeckers (2 drumming) 2 Nuthatch ,best a sunlit circling Goshawk !

Very nice ! a worthwhile trip !............I have seen Ring-necked duck 😀

I wonder if there ever was an aviary in Aviary wood ?......often wondered . Just along from there ,and probably 40+ years ago I watched a pair of Willow Tits foraging.......long gone now sadly (as i,m sure you know ! )

Great shot that Phil.......Different ! 👍

Great pic Russ.........so what are you after up there ?

Not surprised ! i,ll bet that theres nowhere near that number now ,I remember the farmer fencing the area off years back ,t I suppose he thought sod it .....and removed the fencing .I know that DB found 15-20 about 15 or so years ago ,not looked myself now for years ,still soon be Solar panelled !

Its been many years since I last found Green-Winged Orchids growing near Midley on Walland Marsh ,there were probably around a hundred or so ,I believe the odd handful still turn up from time to time. PS;excuse picture quality.....never quite mastered the old Olympus om10.!

Great stuff Martin ! we spent about 3 hours looking around various Dunge pits ! hoping for the American Wigeon......must have looked through a hundred or more Wigeon on the ARC....obviously to no avail .......Good pics !

A pleasant wade in the local forest in light ,persistent rain ,heavily flooded .Still a few small Redwing flocks, ,several Blackbirds ,Robins and calling Bullfinch ,a brief distant Hawfinch (see dreadful pic !) single Treecreeper .The flooded area pictured ...normally excellent for Small Coppers !