I had the best moth catch of the year this morning with 28 moths of 21 species-nothing special but better than of late. New for the year were: the Bud Moth, my second ever record of Blotched Emerald-the first was in 2009, my first Bordered Straw since 2009 and my first Cream-bordered Green Pea since 2010. Struggled again today to find many new birds at Dunge but Scotney Gravel Pits proved most productive with a flight view of the two Spoonbills and my first Corn Buntings of the year. A Tree Sparrow was also seen there.

Blotched Emerald

Bordered Straw

 Cream-bordered Green Pea

 Spoonbills

Made another visit to Westbere Lakes yesterday afternoon, where I only saw 1 Norfolk Hawker, which cruised up and down a short stretch of territory but didn't settle once in an hour. I could only try for flight shots. One hairy Dragonfly also noted.

Norfolk Hawker

Moth numbers still low. New for the year in the last couple of nights were: Scarce Footman, Smoky Wainscot and Celypha striana.

Scarce Footman

 Celypha striana

New moths for the year Saturday morning were Treble Brown-spot, Double Square-spot and The Uncertain. Saturday afternoon I spent at Lullingstone CP where it was overcast and a bit drizzly. I did have fleeting views of 3 Dark Green Fritillaries but none posed for the camera. However, there were also a few Marbled White Butterflies and Grass Rivulets were fairly common there.

Marbled White

Grass Rivulet

New for the year moths since my last post have been: The Flame, Straw Dot, Garden Grass Veneer, Lesser Wax Moth and the Codling Moth. Today we again struggled to find anything at Dunge. As well as a lack of birds there also seemed to be a dearth of insects. About 6 Hobbies were seen around the reserve plus a couple of Peregrines and the usual Marsh Harriers and a couple of Little Egrets. A Cuckoo was still calling around the ARC Pit. I was driven to photographing moth caterpillars, which I have identified as follows:

The Lackey

 Fox Moth

 Garden Tiger

New moth species for the year for the last couple of days were: Heart & Club, Foxglove Pug and Privet Hawk-moth. This morning I visited Hothfields Heathlands where there were a few Keeled Skimmers and Four-spotted Chasers at the main bog. Also noted were 1 Broad-bodied Chaser and 2 Azure Damselflies.

 Keeled Skimmer

Twenty-one moths of 14 species this morning with Small Clouded Brindle new for the year and only my 4th record in 16 years. I paid a brief visit to Westbere today but didn't find any Norfolk Hawkers. There were 2 Scarce Chasers and what I think is a newly emerged female Black-tailed Skimmer.

Scarce Chaser

 Black-tailed Skimmer