Wednesday 15 January 2020

Still raining. The first moth record of the year was on 4th January when I found 3 wings of a Winter Moth on a window sill at the back of the house. In the Dungeness area on the 3rd January we saw 28 Bewisk's Swans on Walland Marsh, 2 Long-tailed Ducks on Scotney and a Shoret-eared Owl at Galloways. On 7th January I saw a Mediterranean Gull at hampton Pier, Herne Bay, and a Purple Sandpiper, which had a damaged bill and some line attached to one leg. this kind of thing seems more common lately.

Purple Sandpiper

 Bewick's Swans

 Mediterranean Gull

Wednesday 1 January 2020

Well we've reached the end of another year with no moths recorded in December, and not many birds seen either in the month. In 2019 I recorded 343 moth species in the garden which is 54 down on last year's 397. However, there were still 15 species for the garden list. I had bee half expecting to get Jersey Tiger and Clancy's Rustic at some point as these 2 species have been expanding their range for some time. On the other hand Jersey Mocha was completely unexpected and Pale-lemon Sallow was quite a surprise too. Below are a few of these new species for the garden-I wonder what will be new in 2020.
 Jersey Mocha

 JerseyTiger

Pale-lemon Sallow

 Clancy's Rustic