This week in the trap Pyrausta despicata was a new species for the garden list and Common Emerald was nice to see. Yesterday at Sissinghurst there were 8 species of Dragonfly/Damselfly on the Woodland Walk and around the ponds including White-legged Damselflies. We saw a couple of Southern Hawkers but The Golden-ringed Dragonflies don't seem to be around yet.

Pyrausta despicata

 Common Emerald

White-legged Damsefly

Last Thursday had a fairly long walk around Rye Harbour instead of Dungeness. Among the breeding Gulls and Terns I managed to see 4 species for the first time this year: Little Tern, Little Ringed Plover, Red-breasted Merganser and Spoonbill. Today at East Blean Woods the Heath Fritillaries seemed to be abundant along with a couple of White Admirals plus Ringlets and Neadow Browns. Last week the a Beautiful Hook-tip in the moth trap was a first for the garden. Unfortunately a rather worn specimen.

 Spoonbill

 White Admiral

 Ringed Plover at Rye Harbour

 Beautifull Hook-tip

 

Last Saturday I visited Luddenham to try out a pheromone lure for Hornet Moths. This was highly successful with 4 being quickly attracted to the lure and after a bit of wait one settled nearby for a photograph. The moth trap has been active this week with the warmer weather. Stag Beetles are being seen in the garden daily. This morning I had my 3rd ever record of a Marbled White Spot, and 2 Varied Coronets were new for the year. New for the garden was a rather dull micro: Bryatropha terrella. A Little Owl has been showing well at Oare Marshes.

 Hornet Moth

 Marbled White Spot

 Varied Coronet

 Little Owl

The best moth of the week was my 1st Elephant Hawk-moth of the year, a week which has included  both male and female Stag Beetles in the moth trap, and this morning a Hornet was also in the trap.

Elephant Hawk-moth

 Hornet

Visited Dungeness on Tuesday but again struggled to find anything new. A Bittern was seen in flight at the ARC pit and the Fox that resides near the power station was scavenging on the beach. Cool nights have kept moth numbers low-a Burnished Brass this morning was new for the year. The regular Bonaparte's Gull has returned to Oare for the 6th year running.

Fox

Bonaparte's Gull

 Burnished Brass

Struggled to find much at Dungeness last Thursday. The moth trap has been steady with the 1st Large Yellow Underwings of the year with a few other new ones such as: Peacock Moth and Swallow Prominent. Stag Beetles and Lesser Stag Beetles are around in the garden, and a Black-winged Stilt was at Oare today. The Heath Fritillaries are around at East Blean Woods, where I also saw 3 Broad-bodied Chasers

Broad-bodied Chaser

 

Black-winged Stilt

Lesser Stag Beetle

 Peacock Moth