Wednesday 29th July 2009 Dumpton Thanet

A Ruddy Darter sitting on the driveway this afternoon not the best photograph I've taken but so what. (Gadget)

Wednesday 29th July 2009 Westgate & Margate

I spotted two Small Tortoiseshells yesterday 28thJjuly,one in my garden at Westgate and one in my son's garden in Margate. (ejfarrell)

Sunday 26th July 2009 St Margarets Bay

Noted of interest huge numbers of Painted Lady's on the cliff tops and a couple of Clouded Yellow butterflies in the bay.(Rae Boulden)

Sunday 26th July 2009 Newington Ramsgate

I found a Bush Cricket on the curtain of my bedroom last night and was reasonably surprised to find it not only to be a Conehead but a Short-winged Conehead at that!It musy have crawled into the open window after dark but quite what it was doing on a concrete housing estate is anyone's guess?They are common at Pegwell Bay but I've yet to hear of them wandering this far away from their grassland habitat.I do occasionally see Oak Bush Cricket or Speckled Bush Cricket around the gardens and on one occasion even caught a couple of House Crickets in my moth traps.This is a new one on me.(Phil M)

Saturday 25th July 2009 Temple Ewell KWT

A morning visit to this reserve produced an abundance of butterflies. Chalkhill Blues flying and feeding on knapweeds and scabious, a few Brown Argus, Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Peacocks, Small Skippers, Comma one Brimstone and of course hundreds of Painted ladies feeding on thistles. Small, Large and Green Veined Whites also were seen.  (Don Wilks)

Wednesday 22nd July 2009 Ash

Today I found a couple of small colonies of Birds-nest Fungus (Crucibulum laeve) totalling about 20 fruiting bodies, in my vegetable garden in Ash. I have seen them at this site previously, but not for several years. They colonise decaying wood and seem closely associated with the debris from my Beech hedge. I photographed these two with a 10pence coin for scale (Norman M)

Tuesday 21st July 2009 Pegwell Bay

There was an Atlantic Grey Seal hanging around the mouth of the river whilst I watched the incoming tide this morning. I saw one out there over the weekend which was presumably the same animal, as they aren’t all that common in these parts. (Phil M)

Monday 6th July 2009 Pegwell Bay

A good sized Grass Snake showed brilliantly as it crossed the short grass near the toilet block today. (Nick Lever

Sunday 5th July 2009 Minster Marshes Thanet

My first Small Tortoiseshell for years!  Let’s hope an observant lepidopterist locates and retrieves any larval nests before the next round of spraying.   (Jeremy Scarlett)

Saturday 4th July 209 Ramsgate

A good colony of Mining Bees (Andrena spp) is present in a bank by the entrance to Clarendon House Grammar School in Elms Avenue, active most sunny days. Probably in excess of 100 burrows in a patch of bare 'lawn' about 3 metres x 2 metres. (Norman M)
 
Saturday 4th July 209 Ash

A new plant species for my garden list, several flowering stems of Parsley Water Dropwort (Oenanthe lachenallii) have appeared in the border near one of my ponds. I suspect that they are associated with a recent purchase of a 'butterfly mix' of seeds, sacttered nearby in the spring. (Norman M)

Thursday 2nd July2009 West-Cliff Ramsgate

I noticed 4 Marbled Whites along the bottom of the West Cliff today. I also disturbed a Small Lizard but didn't get a decent view of it.       (Nick Lever)

Thursday 2nd July2009 Tesco extra Margate road

had a walk behind Tesco extra Margate road this afternoon counted in a small area 15 plus Burnet moths also full of Meadow Browns, Skipper butterflies, bees of all types and insects galore (S Moulder)

Wednesday 1st July 2009 Dumpton Thanet

Things in the garden are looking good with Holly Blues, Small Whites, Painted Lady's, Red Admirals, and the odd Comma are seen daily, Bees,  Hoverflies are in good numbers and the odd Dragonfly makes it a very nice place to just sit and relax, (Gadget)