Friday 30th June 2006 Hoverport Pegwell
Very poor on the Hoverport today, only the odd very
worn Painted Lady and a few Common Blues. A brief session
with the pheromones produced a couple Six-belted Clearwing – new
for the site. A single Pyramidal Orchid is also the first I have
seen there. (F Solly)
Wednesday 28th June 2006 Shuart to Minnis Bay
I hadn't realised just how numerous wild Rabbits were around the
area. I saw them around every field between the farm and the stables. I
also recorded 1 Brown Rat, several Marsh Frogs plus good
numbers of Painted Lady & Red Admiral butterflies. (Dylan)
Tuesday 27th June 2006 Monkton Nature Reserve
A
wander around Monkton Nature Reserve proved to be fairly productive. The
pond produced a few Dragon/Damselflies as expected, Broad-bodied
Chaser, Azure, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies and a
single male Banded Demoiselle. A number of Great Crested and
Smooth Newt eft put in periodic appearances and a couple of Grass
Snakes swam across. I came across a small patch of Creeping Jenny
on the pond bank, new for the Reserve I believe. Just beyond the
Observatory, I also came across a 'new' patch of Adder's Tongue Fern
for the Reserve.
Moving
away from the pond the usual Butterflies - Marbled Whites, Meadow
Browns, Small Skippers, Red Admirals etc were scattered about, (F
Solly)
Saturday 24th June2006 East Blean Reserve
Visited East Blean Reserve this afternoon. Plenty of Heath
fritillaries out, though mostly males. Other butterflies seen
were Meadow brown, Ringlets, a Holly
Blue and a Red Admiral (Don
Wilks)
Friday 23rd June 2006 Kingsgate & East Blean
The
usual wander around Kingsgate after doing the moth trap (plenty of moths
but nothing of note). Pretty much the usual suspects, although Small
Skippers are now out, a rather poorly Pigmy Shrew and a Black-tailed
Skimmer (rare here) were the pick of the bunch.
A
midday wander around East Blean - unfortunately during a period when the
sun was reluctant to shine produced as would be expected, Heath
Fritillaries, Ringlets, Speckled Woods and Meadow Browns. I also
came across the odd looking larva of the Purple Hairstreak. Two Hummingbird
Hawks were probably the first I have seen in the woods; the only other
moth of note was the attractive micro Esperia oliviella. (F
Solly)
Thursday 22nd June 06 Kingsgate
to Pegwell
A brief early morning wander around Kingsgate after doing the Moth Trap.
A bit breezy but with sunny spells, the light dew soon lifted and various
insects started to get active. As has been the norm so far this month, a
good scattering of Painted Ladies and Red Admirals with the
odd Hummingbird Hawk. A
few more Butterflies now about with Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and
Large Skippers putting in appearances. New generation Small
Tortoiseshells are just emerging and singletons of both the old and
new generation of Comma seen? Holly Blues are now past
they’re peak but still frequent whilst Small and Common Blues are
out but in very poor numbers. Dragonflies had just started to warm up
before I left with 2 Emperor Dragonflies, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser
and 2 Blue-tailed Damselflies. A Hedgehog somewhat surprisingly spent about 1/2 hour routing
around the fairway and semi-rough and was unconcerned by its exposed
position. Ivy
Broomrapes are just starting to flower, whilst at North Foreland there are about 70
Lizard Orchids, 35 Man Orchid and a scattering of Pyramidal
Orchids.
The only bird of note was a female Serin loitering around Whiteness.
Hoverport
- a very brief visit at lunchtime in a now very fresh wind and only
fleeting glimpses of sun. As with elsewhere on Thanet, good numbers of Painted
Ladies and the odd Hummingbird Hawk. Holly Blues are
also showing considerable interest in Lucerne at this site. A pleasant
surprise was my first Clouded Yellow of the year, also nectaring on
Lucerne. Plants of note included about 30 Bee Orchids, 3 Southern
Marsh Orchids, and Orange Hawkweed and good numbers of Lesser
Broomrape. (F Solly)
Thursday 22nd June 2006 Palm Bay Thanet
Whilst I was checking the playing field for gulls I came across a Fox
vixen and 2 well grown cubs enjoying the early morning sunshine. The
cubs were rather boisterous, yet she remained alert, probably
awaiting the first dog walkers before calling the cubs and retreating to
their earth in an adjoining back garden. (Dylan)
Sunday 18 th June 2006 Kingsdown Beach & Restharrow Scrape
An afternoon visit to Kingsdown Beach to look for any migrant Lepidoptera
produced shortly after arriving a single Swallow-tail Butterfly
drifting north over the flowers - unfortunately it did not linger. Small
numbers of Red Admirals and Painted Ladies were present,
mostly nectaring on the Red Valerian and there were about 15 Hummingbird Hawks, mostly whizzing around over the shingle. On
the way back, I popped into the Restharrow Scrape where there were still
at least 15 male Red-veined Darters. (F Solly)
Sunday 11th June 2006 Monkton Nature Reserve
Orchids in flower are Man (going over), Marsh, Common Spotted,
and Fragrant. The first Bee Orchid has one flower open and
the Lizard soon will be out, next weekend should be all right for
them. Butterflies seen were Painted Lady, Common Blue and Red
Admiral. On the pond were Broad bodied and four spotted
chasers, an Emperor Dragonfly laying and a couple of Blue-banded
Demoiselles, also two small Grass Snakes (Don Wilks)
Wednesday 7th June 2006 Chamber's Wall from Shuart lane
Walked along Chamber's Wall from Shuart lane, looking for butterflies.
Quite a few Painted Ladies, one Red Admiral,
one Common Blue, but a very good numbers of Small
Blues. Also a lot of Holly Blues, I thought they
only laid on holly, ivy and possible gorse, but to my surprise they were
laying on the flower buds of Lucerne, I found some eggs
after watching females lying. They had to find some alternative as there's
virtually no Holly or Ivy on that section of the wall. Photo of a Holly
Blue on Lucerne attached. Plenty of Marsh
Orchids out and one Spotted Orchid. (Don Wilks)
