Male Red veined Darters from Swanscombe Marshes, Kent yday. NEW photos @ marcheath.blogspot.com. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @smallshire.bsky.social @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social #KentDragonflies #odonata #Teamdragonfly

Unfortunately Jack had to head home but a very quick visit to a another site on the way home produced the expected Currant Clearwings . Pretty good week for insects despite the mixed weather. Hopefully more Clearwings and other super insects to come later in the year 🙂

I met up with @snapsjackel.bsky.social and his wife in Kent today . We saw a few bits including Spotted Flycatcher, plenty of Heath Fritillaries and a superb Yellow-legged Clearwing . It was a good catch up talking about the good old days 🙂👌

Excellent day out in the end. Swanscombe Marshes produced 15+ Red veined Darter and 1 Lesser Emperor. A very breezy Oare Marshes PM produced 10 Dainty Damselfly (6 teneral) 70+ Ruddy Darter and 25+ Scarce Emerald Damselfly. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @smallshire.bsky.social #KentDragonflies

📣 Applications are now open for the Martin Garner Spurn Young Birder Competition 2026! If you're aged 16 or under and passionate about birding, this is your chance to compete at #MigFest2026 and win some fantastic prizes. ⏰ Applications close 19 July 🔗 tinyurl.com/MGSYB2026 Please share!

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There was another reason why I wanted to visit Swanscombe marshes today . It was 35 years ago today that I found a Bridled Tern flying alongside a White-winged Tern found earlier in Essex, just offshore in the Thames.Happy days . The site has changed considerably over the years but is still great😊

A few more photos of Red-veined Darter at Swanscombe marshes watching. Plus the Lesser Emperor.

Brilliant hour this afternoon in a brief weather window at Swanscombe marshes watching Red-veined Darters found by Kelly Ann yesterday. We managed a minimum of 15 individuals including two pairs of. Also a superb Lesser Emperor. The site had a single RVD a few years ago but not seen more until now

Permission to steal @alanlewiswildlife.bsky.social's thunder as he's currently indisposed birding elsewhere: fantastic reward for him after sticking to his usual trapping spot at Freshwater Bay, Southwell, in what looked to be unpromisingly cooler, breezy conditions with a Mediterranean Brocade...

Something of a nothing day turned into a beauty! First an unexpected female Honey-buzzard showed well (only phone shots), and then, a singing male Red-breasted Flycatcher! #highlandbirds

...and then inside that trap another EBS, a Purple Marbled & a Striped Hawk. How times have changed - can still well remember Bernard Skinner massively gripping us off in May 1992 by showing us Britain's 4th EBS (& the first for 30+ yrs) that he'd caught the night before at Durlston!

@migrantmothuk.bsky.social 12 Striped Hawkmoth in the moth trap at Lee Moor ; Devon last night. Won't forget the moment we opened the trap this morning l ! Wondering if that is a Devon record ?

A few hours walk at New Hythe with @dartfordtrapper.bsky.social . 12 species of Odonata 😊

KOS Weekly Highlights: the first Greenish Warbler since 2016 was the star bird, but there was a nice support cast with two Montague’s Harriers, a mini-influx of Golden Orioles, many Bee-eaters, a Red-rumped Swallow and a Hoopoe. Details on kentos.org.uk. #kentbirding

Just four highlights from the past week in Kent 😊

An enjoyable day with @gnhbirder66.bsky.social in Kent . Plenty to look at and some great wildlife encounters. Biggest surprise was finding a Lesser spotted Woodpecker nest with a single juv likely a day or so away from leaving the nest hole. Plenty of Heath Frits and Odonata activity #kentbirding

4 years ago this week after many false alarms Eleonoras Falcon finally made it onto my UK list 🙂 This originally had a white background that I never really liked I much prefer the blue.

Well that was unexpected. Broad-billed Sandpiper at QE2 (Walton) this afternoon. Think was taken by a Peregrine a few minutes later. #surreybirds #rarebirdsUK. The definition of inland reservoir patch gold. Almost like the Enhanced Games!!

Excellent morning session at Oare Marshes between 8-10am. Highlights included 53 SCARCE EMERALD DAMSELFLY, 2 DAINTY DAMSELFLY 15 Blue-tailed Damselfly, 2 Azure Damselfly, 1 Variable Damselfly and 6 Hairy Dragonfly. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @smallshire.bsky.social #KentDragonflies

Looking to escape the heat this week? Head to our beautiful air-conditioned Glandford showroom, try the World's-finest optics and...chill....❄️ 🥶 😎 #NorthNorfolk #Heatwave #UKBirding

Dungeness, Kent: E to NE f2-3, sunny and warm. What a day! A singing and showy Greenish Warbler; two, maybe four Bee-eaters; three Honey Buzzards; two White Storks; a Red Kite A bridge camera may not win you any photographic awards but it can capture a moment and enhance a memory…

Dungeness this morning, the star turn of the day was this very showy Greenish Warbler , well found by JS in the NW corner of the Trapping Area. The Reserve was very quiet again, the day ended on a positive note, watching 2 Bee-eaters at the Kerton Road pit. #birds #birding #kentbirding #ukbirding

Singing male Greenish Warbler showing well at the most north-west corner of the Trapping Area! #kentbirding

This week just keeps getting better, with today’s clear highlight this Northern Parula, a quality find by @tomwright1.bsky.social this morning!

Purple Heron currently in a bush at Stodmarsh viewed from river bank, 05.50. ##ukbirding #kentbirding @rarebirder.bsky.social

Red-breasted Flycatcher in the Moat this morning #kentbirding

Dungeness, Kent: Red-breasted Flycatcher singing in moat - such a modest, gentle song. Soberly plumaged.

Always knew Subbuteo was violent 🫣. One less Dunlin on the Thames at Higham Kent today . #kentbirding

Pittas of Borneo

Wildlife of Borneo 😊

Taken beside the Royal Military Canal at Kenardington yesterday (5.5.26) - one of 5 Downy Emerald Dragonfly patrolling a small ditch beside the canal. #Odonata #Dragonfly @britishdragonflies.bsky.social

Emergence of Dainty Damselflies, Coenagrion scitulum, at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory's Dragonfly Pond Field (build it & they will come!) this morning in bright sun as the day warmed up. Two days earlier than previous earliest - 9th May in 2025. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social #Odonata #KentNature

Some heavily cropped photos of the adult female red-footed falcon I found today at Reculver. #kentbirding

Another good start to the seawatching with 6 Pomarine Skua, a Black-throated Diver, 1000 'commic' Tern, 49 Black Tern and 97 Little Gull all east #kentbirding

The happy afternoon crew at the Dungeness seawatch hide Just after the 7 Pomarine Skuas flew past in a flock of 6 plus (1 up front) at 15.04 Black-throated Diver, Little Gulls, Black and Little Terns, Arctic and Great Skua plus a selection of waders Full details on Trektellen later #KentBirding

A superb seawatch today with excellent variety. Some of the highlights from over 14hrs of watching include two Garganey, two Velvet Scoter, 353 Whimbrel, 111 Bar-tailed Godwit, three Little Tern, five Black Tern, 20 Little Gull, a Pomarine Skua and two Black-throated Diver. #kentbirding

72 species at Higham marshes this afternoon, Nightingale, Lesser Whites, Cuckoo, 100+Swifts, Sand Martins and Swallows, Common Terns, Wheatear. 2 Ruff, 2 Spotshank, 38 Dunlin, 2 Greenshank, Cattle Egret . Also 7+ Whimbrel very vocal . Very enjoyable #kentbirding

One DownyE on the diagonal path & one in the villa courtyard. Katie said she had seen them recently & was looking for Hairy Ds as well I twice saw a large Dragon whizz past the kitchen window, but didn't get enough to be certain on size. Perhaps a HD or a third DownyE @martinadams1.bsky.social

A wonderful Sunday 🙂

Always a red letter day when the latest Essex Bird Report drops through the letterbox. A great publication - congratulations to Neil Sumner and his team (for transparency I wrote a section of the systemic list. #essexbirding

71 sp of bird this am at Swanscombe marshes with @dartfordtrapper.bsky.social . Whimbrel, Curlew, Turnstones, Common Sand, YLGull, Wheatear, Lesser Whites,Ravens ,Nightingales, Peregrines, Red Kites, Bearded Tit, Water Rail, Yellow Wag, plus Green Hairstreak, Large Red Damselfly, European Paper Wasp

An unexpected but very good start to the day. Spurn's earliest Great Reed Warbler #spurntick #spurnbirds

A superb start to the day with a decent arrival of Willow Warblers, a Tree Pipit and Ring Ouzel in off the sea, a Pied Flycatcher and Redstart in a private garden on the Point and best of all a singing Wood Warbler half way up the east side of the Long Pits! #kentbirding

Stoke marshes, lagoon with @dartfordtrapper.bsky.social . 60 sp including Cattle Egrets, Wheatear, Pink-footed Goose, Sand Martin, Swallows

At this time of year when I'm out birding I really try to make an effort to add breeding evidence to my records. It's really quick and easy in @birdtrack.bsky.social and adds value to my records, especially for @ukrbbp.bsky.social species. Added P for pair in suitable habitat. #ornithology

A rare spring image of the 2 ringed plover species standing side by side. The Ringed Plover (left) would normally see off the Little Ringed Plover, but perhaps he is a lonely Ringed Plover... @sussexornitholo.bsky.social #plover

Out on the North Kent marshes again where the human count other than myself was zero 🤗. 71 sp of bird, another cheeky Stoat, Cuckoo, Nightingale heard, a few Swallows through, LRP, Great Egret, 10 Wheatear. Usual backing soundtrack of Med Gulls, Skylarks, Sedgies,Stonechats 🥰

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I received the first Kent Large Red Damselfly reports yesterday. With the season starting now, please share any significant sightings to #KentDragonflies.