Monday 30th June 2008 Monkton Thanet
Out looking for Dragonflies around Monkton area with
Frances Damselflies were in very good numbers Common, Blue Tailed
and Small Red-eyed Damselflies with Emperor, Four-spotted
Chases and Black-tailed Skimmers were also observed, we also
encountered a few Meadow Brown and Small & Large White Butterflies
and Marsh Frogs (Gadget)
Friday 27th June 2008 Sandwich Bay
A quick look around the middle field pound for
Dragonflies 3 Black-tailed Skimmers, 2 Emperors, 1
Broad-bodied Chaser with good number of Blue-tailed Damselflies,
butterflies of small numbers 2 Meadow Brown, 2 Marbled White, 4
Small Heaths 2 Red Admiral good number of Small Skippers
and a
Six-spot Burnet Moth
also
Southern Marsh Orchid and
Lizard Orchid
(Gadget)
Thursday 26th June 2008 Sandwich Bay & Clearwing
Hunting
Ah, a day to myself or so it seemed. A pleasant start
to the day but a fresh breeze by mid morning. Before the wind got going, I
decided to cycle out to Sandwich Bay to look for Dragonflies. Restharrow
Scrape held 4 male Red-veined Darters - suggesting that
this is now established there, good numbers of Black-tailed Skimmers
and Azure Damselflies plus a single Emperor.
The middle field pond held Blue-tailed, Red-eyed
and Azure Damselflies, Emperors and
Black-tailed Skimmers. My enjoyment was
ruined by a phone call from Gadget who wanted to see some Clearwings.
Returning to Thanet to collect my gear, Gadget and fit his harness, we set
out in less than ideal conditions, now being very windy and the sun
frequently obscured by cloud. Due to the conditions we only looked for three
usually easy species and didn't bother with much else. The first site was
Monkton Nature Reserve where about 5 Six-belted Clearwings
came quickly to the pheromones. Then on to an orchard near Stodmarsh where a
single very reluctant Red-belted Clearwing eventually
appeared and finally Stodmarsh where 6+ Red-tipped Clearwings
very quickly appeared. Obviously I can't waffle on about the excellent
company etc. (F Solly & Gadget)
Sunday 22nd June 2008 Brooksend &
Swallowbrook
On my travels around the lanes, I was fortunate to have
an encounter with a Brown Hare. I had paused to watch a
pair of Swallows when it came running down the lane, heading straight for
me, only coming to a stop when it was a few metres away! Luckily the camera
was handy to record the incident. My other sighting, of interest, was of
several specimens of Giant Hogweed near Swallowbrook, the
tallest plant being over 3m high! (Dylan)
Saturday 21st June 2008 Sandwich Bay
Once again my sole purpose was to provide DB with ticks
- and little thanks I get to. An afternoon netting session at Sandwich Bay
to get a few things from DB's vast 'want' list, Gadget also came along but
was rarely seen above the knee high vegetation. After some searching, it was
beginning to look doubtful for the top of the list moth when an immaculate
Forester flew just in front of me and landed on a nearby
Sorrel (it's larval food plant) giving excellent views of this stunner. The
same general area also produced a number of Grass Rivulets
and Oblique Striped. Other less desirable species included
Yellow Shells, Clouded Borders and
Six-spot Burnet Moths. Of course there was a
scattering of micros including Dichrorampha sequana,
Agonopterix kaekeritziana, Thisanotia
chrysonuchella and the plumes - Stenoptilia
pterodactyla and Platyptilia pallidactyla. Our
final look was for Bright Wave along the seafront,
amazingly we missed it, possibly due to the fresh breeze, however it was
only a temporary delay (although DB's whinging seemed to go on for-ever) as
we came across a couple just along the coast later. Returning towards the
Obs, DB being very briefly satisfied, I noticed a dark orangey-brown
Dragonfly hawking the field just past the 'Oasis'. I knew immediately what
it would be; it landed to confirm it's identity as a cracking Scarce
Chaser - very local in these parts. Some excellent net-work (if I
may say so myself) after-which it posed well for photos - although not for
me as I had forgotten my camera! Surprisingly few Butterflies with just a
scattering of Small Heaths, Meadow Browns
and Common Blues. A nice display of Southern Marsh
Orchids and a few Marsh Helleborines
around the Whitehouse area with Pyramidal and
Lizard Orchids on the Golf Course together with a few
Clove-scented Broomrapes still in reasonable condition but only a
rather sorry looking Sand Catchfly. A pleasant session,
excellent company etc etc, but DB was moaning about needing more ticks by
the evening. ( F Solly, Dave B, Gadget)
Wednesday 18th June
2008 Grove Ferry Late News
One advantage of the door
of the new Turf Fields hide not being able to close properly (or
disadvantage, depending on how you feel about snakes), is that, while
everyone was watching the kingfisher, a Grass Snake sneaked through
the gap and curled up under my rucksack! Photo attached - apologies for the
very poor quality, but it's hard to get a decent shot indoors with a 396mm
f6.6 lens! (Mark Kilner)
Monday 16th June 2008 Minster Marshes Thanet
Good numbers of the Banded Demoiselle
20+males and 5 Females along the river bank with only a few Blue-tailed
Damselflies scattered about. (Gadget)
Monday 16th June 2008 Kingsgate Area
16/6. A brief early look on the Golf Course at Kingsgate after the joys
of the moth trap. The grass was still very damp from the overnight dew and
the few Butterflies were only just starting to move about, 2 Small Blue,
2 Common Blue, 2 Large Skipper (the first that I've seen this
year) and singles of Small White and Speckled Wood. Also a
single Mother Shipton and Silver Y. (F Solly)
Tuesday 10th June 2008
East Blean Wood
A brief half hour visit to
East Blean, produced little more than a few Heath Fritillary with
singles of Speckled Yellow and Broad-bodied Chaser (F Solly)
Sunday 8th June 2008 Broadstairs
Garden
Another good day for hoverflies, large numbers of
Episyrphus balteatus
are now present, presumably recently arrived from the continent. I was
pleased to identify three new species:
Eupeodes luniger, Sphaerophoria scripta and
Syritta pipiens, all
of which were making the most of our
ceanothus bush.
(Jerry
Lanfear)
Saturday 31st May 2008 Kingsgate
Area
31/5/2008. A brief look at Kingsgate once the grass had
dried produced 12 Small Blues in a small patch of remaining suitable
habitat along with 8 Mother Shipton and hundreds of Cocksfoot
Moths (Glyphipterix simpliciella) - up to 12 on a single
Ox-eye Daisy flower. (F Solly)
Saturday 31st May 2008 Broadstairs
Garden
Lot's of insects on the wing today, all
the usual hoverflies (mostly
Episyrphus balteatus and
Syrphus ribesii). The
bumble bee Bombus pratorum feeding
on some chive flowers proved quite photogenic. I also spent a while trying
to get a decent shot of a hoverfly in flight, this example of
Episyrphus baleatus
was as good as I managed, not bad but could do better. Finally I came
across this green spider - a female specimen of the genus
Araniella
- . It could either be A.
opisthographa or
A. cucurbitina;
I don't think they can be told apart visually, not by me anyway. (Jerry
Lanfear)
Syritta pipiens
