Andy Appleton

I’ve just also seen the Spotted Flycatcher that Merlin picked up: that’s great and something to be on the look out for as they should be moving through on the way back to Africa (albeit in small numbers) about now!

Superb, there are quite a few around Tunbridge Wells now! I saw two Buzzards from Dunorlan’ this morning.

30 years ago we would never have imagined they would be so widespread in Kent.

Beware of a similar call that Jay emits sometimes though (that Merlin does get confused).

Wasp Spider was one of the highlights of our Park Safaris in Dunorlan yesterday

Lesser Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat, my third in Dunorlan Park this year

39 species at Dunorlan Park by 8am this morning. This was also the number of Goldfinches that flew over in about that many seconds.

Birds included my first (two) Kingfishers in #TunbridgeWells this year as well as my first patch (juvenile) Willow Warbler of 2025 + Lesser Whitethroat.

#KentBirding

Ring-necked Parakeet still needed for my ‘road list’ - Tracey’s had this and Raven both of which I’ve seen nearby (half a mile and 200 yards or so respectively) but maybe I will get one of them back this morning as I clear the garage out…

Garden Warbler, one of 34 species noted, still in Dunorlan Park, #TunbridgeWells this morning.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner here for about six days.

Green-flowered Helleborine sort of on the way to Somerset last week

I didn’t find a Wallcreeper at Cheddar Gorge yesterday afternoon, it seems to have gone.

10 of these distant hazy beasts noted on way home today (Tracey used the word ‘cute’ 🤷🏻‍♂️ 😳😲😀 - I would have thought ‘wrong’ would be a better description). The best bird noted today a was Garden Warbler, my first at Dunorlan Park for three years.

Last week we noted 116 ‘pendula’ Green-flowered Helleborines in the 200 yards or so we walked and, although most were gone over, two had more ‘out’ flowers than we have previously encountered.

New Wine festival, then a day of touristy stuff.

Finally, Garden Wbr, Dunorlan Park, this afternoon.

WHY!? What do the ‘public’ know about wildlife nowadays?

It’s difficult enough for those with a very keen understanding of nature to properly understand the effects of ‘popular’ (unnecessary) introduction schemes.

PLEASE, let’s start, as someone else said, with protecting what we have still got.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

This morning on The Pilot Path in the Trapping Area at Dungeness, a Hummingbird Hawkmoth taking a drink of nectar from a Vipers Bugloss flower.

#Teammoth
#Mothsmatter

Red-eyed Damselfly, Norfolk

33 species at Dunorlan Park this morning including a fresh juvenile Lesser Whitethroat. Birds are beginning to move through - lots of Chiffchaffs but not that many Blackcaps yet. The next six to eight weeks may hopefully provide a bit more interest.

Flyby Bittern best in Norfolk this weekend.

Possible Southern southern white, Pieris mannii.

According to www.butterfliesoffrance.com, www.butterfliesoffrance.com/html/Pieris%...
The Southern Small White has two distinguishing features: the concave spot and the non-forking vein 7.

This has the non-forked vein. Didn't open its wings, sadly

Keep checking, that would be well good and deserving of a beverage!

Lesser Yellow Underwing

I have just come home to one or two Elephant Hawk-moths flying around and a Lesser Yellow Underwing resting on a hedge in the garden.

Common, maybe, but pleasant for a novice.

#KentNature
#TunbridgeWells

No sign of breeding this year but this Grey Heron landed a few metres in front of me today in Dunorlan Park

Another sign of autumn yesterday evening with a Lesser Whitethroat in the big hedge at #DunorlanPark #TunbridgeWells

Narrow-lipped, even 🤷🏻‍♂️

Narrow-leaved Helleborine - about 100 plants, far more than we had seen before. But the vast majority had gone over.

Yellow Bird’s-nest - something we weren’t expecting to see. Tiny, proper tiny.

Violet Helleborine - one of about a dozen noted.

Wood Sandpiper at Dungeness

Surrey yesterday for orchids (and non-orchids as it happened)…

#orchids
#wildflowerhour

… and a few birds this afternoon after the annual @dungenessbirdobs.bsky.social trusty BBQ 🙄

Three local sites visited this morning with a recently fledged juvenile Little Grebe the best. Some exercise, a few birds, a bit of rain but no hoped for deluge of waders (unsurprisingly no waders in fact).

Yep, that’s it. Purple Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak (terrible phone pic’) in Dunorlan Park earlier today, my third here but I’m not often around during the warmer parts of the day.

#TunbridgeWells
#KentNature

Unsurprisingly he states that we are one of the worst nature depressed countries in the world.

Yep, after many hours of looking for Northern Brown Argus (in all weathers over a couple of years) this was what I got at the third site we tried for them this weekend 😲

Fortunately we saw at least one more and, although worn, it’s mostly in one piece. A typical perched view of this tiny butterfly on the end of a bit of grass.

Northern Brown Argus on grass. We tried Cumbria and Yorkshire before scoring in Lancashire (deliberately vague).

High Brown Fritillary - two or three noted and one of my targets for the weekend.

Butterflies included my first of the non-Durham form of Northern Brown Argus but I was a tad disappointed with the first one I found considering how many hours I’d put in looking for them!

Large Heath butterflies seen but never settled and High Brown Fritillary too but they were also very flighty.

A male Keeled Skimmer in the Lake District.

A female Black Darter, Cumbria.

Frog Orchid, just two inches tall. Tracey found the first one, obviously.

Tracey, the finder of all things good.

I wasn’t looking for Odonata but was pleased to find Keeled Skimmer, Common Hawker, Black Darter (well, Tracey found that) and Golden-ringed Dragonfly on our travels up north over the last few days.

Langdale

Blea Tarn

Sunset over Ingleborough this evening

We took my parents out for lunch today and then for a drive around Great & Little Langdale areas.

It seemed to go down well and, after a subtle request to stop at the top of the pass, it seemed rude not to check a patch of Heath Spotted Orchids out with a surprise bonus male Keeled Skimmer.

I’ve never seen that before Kirsty.

Good to hear a brief call of a Green Woodpecker part way through too!

A not very red Dark-red Helleborine on Hutton Roof

My first Broad-leaved Helleborine in flower - there were plenty more coming along and/or blind.

A slightly darker individual. Smart, eh?

Dark-red Helleborine with rather broad leaves.

An early start and a bout of Laryngitis meant I could just about keep up 😢 on the limestone but with Tracey not feeling too well / wrecked meant that we gave up earlier than we may have otherwise have done.

A good selection of Dark-red Helleborines quite a few of which weren’t too dark.

#Orchids

Yep, know that feeling John. The trusty Hilman Imp HGH 878C to the Triumph Herald estate that took up to 13 people at a time YKO 994J, etc.

My first Nova twitch-mobile was A971 BAP but who knows what the current one is!

Dusky Sallow

Pebble Prominent

Dark Tussock

The dream team, Jacob, Sean & Dave, deep in thought (but probably not over the Elephant Hawk-moths).

Maybe a bit more.

Thank you again @dungenessbirdobs.bsky.social

Any errors in the ALT will be all my making.

Pigmy Footman (one of at least four species of footman photographed)

Pempelia genistella (with thanks to my brother for ID as my notes were unintelligible)

Ethmia bipunctella (an ‘Ermine’ moth)

Willow Ermine (several other species of Ermine moths were available)

Well, let me indulge you a little…

Oof, amazing!
Here’s hoping the hybrid and different forms are still around in about five days time…

Privet Hawkmoth

Small Elephant Hawk-moth

Buff-tip - quite a few of these in the traps

Synaphe punctalis, Dwarf Cream Wave, Sussex Emerald (the commonest of the three emerald species I noted) and Brown-line Bright-eye - hopefully!

An excellent moth morning @dungenessbirdobs.bsky.social yesterday.

I don’t mind a bit of glamour so 6 species of Hawk-moth were welcome with loads of other stuff too including my first two clearwings in the kitchen: Orange-tailed (I was surprised how small it was) and Lunar Hornet’

Thank you Rebecca, the book inspiration could just have come from you!

We’re up your way (ish) next weekend. We are staying near Ingleton and hoping to do Hutton Roof, etc (orchids and butterflies).