Just a Scaup at Twilight. A drake at Pegwell present for its 3rd day. Like all sea-duck, increasingly scarce at Sandwich Bay, just about annual passage migrant/winter visitor. Long gone are the days when Harrison described exceptional cold weather numbers of 800-1000 at Sandwich in 1940 #KentBirding

Today's Red-necked Phalarope was 15th record for SBBOT recording area. There's only been 1 spring record (26-30/5/1975) all others, juv/1w birds, in period 8/8/1964 - 17/11/2017. Early records were at/near Pegwell - most recent 3 on newly created habitat on New Downs/RSPB Worth Marshes #KentBirding

An excellent day on Worth started with 3 Glossy Ibis out of roost towards Willow Farm then finding a juv Red-necked Phalarope on Lydden Flood and supporting cast of White-tailed Eagle, 2 Hen Harriers, juv Red-rumped Swallow, 3 Raven birds also 1000+ hirrundines. #ukbirding #kentbirding

The Death's-head Hawk-moth reminded me of another giant - the Great Peacock. In particular, this larva in the Jardin des Papillons, Digne-les-Bains in July 2014. It was another 7 years before I saw an adult lumbering around the Casa Sarasa garden on a warm spring evening & later on a trap. #TeamMoth

Presenting 'Damian' the Death's-head Hawkmoth, A. atropos, newly emerged this morning, after being lovingly tended and raised by our Assistant Warden, Johnny Bull, after the caterpillar was found on the SBBOT Middle Field reserve on 14th August. Marvelous Moth Metamorphosis 🤩 #TeamMoth #KentNature

Recommended - even for those who have no problems getting to sleep 😜

SBBO Moth Night: always some surprises, today was no different. Oak Lutestring, common inland but only a couple of previous records (30/9/09 & 26/9/10) September Thorn, my 2nd of the year - until recently you had to go back to 2001 & Ni Moth, my last by 'mothin' on a cruise ship in the Med #TeamMoth

The Migrant Hawker was regarded as an uncommon migrant but now resident & widespread at Sandwich Bay/Worth Marshes with numbers still boosted in autumn by migrants from Europe. Peak numbers seen in the lee of trees & bushes on late sunny days e.g. 150+ during Sept 2023. Exuviae first found 8/7/2014

On probably the last hot (25'C), calm & sunny day of the year, 2♂️Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies on territory at Sandwich Bay beating last year's final sighting on 3rd Sept. Amazing how such fragile creatures have survived the recent storms & cool evenings. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social #KentNature

Three hours of sea-watching at Sandwich Bay yielded one, possibly two, Sooty Shearwaters, just shy of the 52+ logged a few miles away down-channel at St Maggies 😮 and I won't even mention the incredible 351 🤯 counted past Dunge - oops! Ah - but did they have any Coot I hear you ask? #KentBirding

One of those legendary Sandwich Bay sea-watching sessions that will live long in the memory. No, I'm not talking about the 14+ Arctic, 2 Pomarine & 1 Long-tailed Skuas or even the Sooty & Balearic Shearwater but it is my honour to present to you the Coot drifting sedately North offshore #KentBirding

12 Glossy Ibis on Willow Farm, RSPB Worth Marshes this am - part of a recent record-breaking influx into Britain & Ireland with multiple flocks of 30-40 birds. A sign of huge population increases in Spain & France or refugees from a wave of heat-waves, droughts & wildfires in the Med 🤔 #KentBirding

Toward the end, fortunately, of Worth Marshes WeBS count & speculating over a distant 'interesting' Little Stint on Muddy Pool looking 'slight & attenuated' in the midday heat. Fortunate to have @markgolley.bsky.social drop in & keep us on the straight & narrow 🤩 Nobody expects the BOU! #KentBirding

The Spotted Crake is 17th record for Sandwich Bay after last year's territorial male heard singing from 1.5km away😮. 13 from 1964 - '88 are scattered thru all seasons. Another juv. on New Downs was well-watched from 18/8-15/9/95 while one was rescued/delivered by the postman on 6/9/96 😂 #KentBirding

A decent seawatch (by Sandwich Bay standards) with 4 Arctic Skua, a Bonxie, 2 Little Gulls & Black Tern (plus an 'all-dark' tern best forgot 😬). Late afternoon took the last train to Crakesville (aka South Scrape, New Downs) for a Spotted Crake 😀 posing with Water Rail, Coot & Moorhen #KentBirding

Top film. The smartest look at this subject I've ever seen. Also funny and sweary. youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...

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Two battleworn Long-Tailed Blues near Deal today ,seeing off allcomers ,particularly the Wall Browns that got too close ! Lots of Everlasting Pea .......so hopefully a female or two made the trip ......looks good for later on 🤞.

Since the discovery of Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly I. pumilio at Sandwich Bay we've had to pay closer attention to its far commoner cogener, the Blue-tailed Damselfly I. elegans, probably our most abundant zygopteran. Here an immature green ♂️mating with the larger mature 'A-type' 'typica' ♀️#Odonata

Couple of hours at Sandwich Bay this am in perfect conditions (25'C+, sunny, near calm SE) searching for Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies I.pumilio. Eventually a green mature female away from the main pools found zen-like after the hint of an almost subliminal movement seen from the corner of my eye.🧘‍♂️

This long hot summer continues to be kind to our inverts😎. This female Banded Demoiselle at Roaring Gutter Worth Marshes on 7th Aug was our latest ever (previously 26th July in 2020 - atypical for a species that can elsewhere persist into Sept) and yesterday 3 Norfolk Hawkers (prev 5th Aug in 2024).

The next generation of Southern Small White (P mannii) has started, I just made this photo in the garden. You notice them as they are a bit smaller than Small Whites and have a slightly different way of flying. This generation should have a large and dark square middle spot (as on the photo).

Worth Marshes: masses/swarms of Peacock butterfly larvae on the nettles at Roaring Gutter - both early and late instars. A young Cuckoo close nearby but didn't actually see it feeding. #KentNature #KentBirding

What a summer this is turning out to be! After recent record garden day counts of Green-veined Whites, Common Blues & Brown Argus, on today's 15 min #BigButterflyCount I total 45 (Forty-five!) Gatekeepers nectaring madly on the Marjoram. I look up & there are 8 Migrant Hawkers overhead😮 #KentNature

SBBO moth night & always great to hear the kid's ohs, ahs & wows as potted hawk-moths are passed around & released. My highlights; Lace Border, S. ornata & Chalk Carpet, S. bipunctaria, both of which I've failed to find during the day in Kent having found the latter & decorata in Provence. #teammoth

On the @mariposanature.bsky.social Arctic tour the season was 2-3 weeks late & we struggled to find some target Boloria. However Green-veined Whites, Pieris napi adalwinda, were plentiful. Some authors considered it a ssp of Mountain Green-veined White, Pieris bryoniae, or even a separate species!

Yesterday's aberrant Green-veined White brought to mind several Brown Arguses (Argi?), Aricia agestis, seen in the home garden over many years. First three with white markings around the central discoidal spot on the fore-wing upperside (ab snelleni?) resembling Northern Brown Argus A. artaxerxes.

I'm virtually guaranteed to find something interesting in the garden when/if I venture out without a 'proper' camera. This time a summer brood Green-veined White, Pieris napi, ab. continua (I think), taken with my steam-powered iPhone 7. #KentNature @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Another look around the SBBOT Dragonfly Pools this morning now the wind had died down ably assisted by Steffan the warden. At least nine Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies I. pumilio were found inc. three females (a teneral & 2 immature aurantiaca) plus 6 males at various stages of maturity.

Very fortunate to find the teneral/immature Scarce Blue-tail resting deep in pool-side vegetation and in the cool and very breezy conditions ahead of the (much needed) rain

After individuals recorded on 16th & 23rd May, a complete blank until today, a 3rd immature ♀️Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, I. pumilio at Sandwich Bay - late first or early second generation? Be aware of the immature yellow form of Blue-tailed Damselfly I. elegans in same area. #KentNature #Odonata

Day 3. In a gin clear blue sky we took the chairlift at Abisko up Mt Nuolja to the Aurora Sky Station. Several Pale Arctic Clouded Yellows, Colias tyche, & a single Dewy Ringlet, Erebia pandrose, were found however the amount of snow remaining & few flowers signalled a late season.

Day 2 in the Arctic & as weather improved we ventured deeper into Swedish Lapland to a blanket bog north of Kiruna. Our principal quarry Lapland Fritillary, E. iduna, was only glimpsed but compensation came in multiple instalments. First up were several Northern Grizzled Skippers, Pyrgus centaureae.

Our first full day on the @mariposanature.bsky.social Arctic tour; a trip over the border from our base in Narvik to Abisko. Conditions were poor but somehow Dave (the postman) Moore found us two regional specialities; Freyja's Fritillary, Bolaria freija, & Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow, Colias tyche.

While in Sardinia searching for Pygmy Skipper, we came across a Parallel Lines, Grammodes bifasciata, a lifer & related to Geometrician, G.stolida (seen in Georgia). UK Moths describes a single UK record at Chippenham Fen, Cambs in July 2020 - maybe time for another with the recent influx? #teammoth

Red-belted Clearwing, Synanthedon myopaeformis, last recorded at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory 29th May 1995, raised from a larva found near the toll gate. Roll on 30 years and today two were attracted to a pheromone lure placed near the Bardsey apple tree - in the Field Centre car park! 🤣 #teammoth

Not sure what I'd done to deserve it but treated by No1 son to a long weekend visiting several Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé Chateau 🍷🍷🥴. En route (after many previous failures) fortunate to see the endangered Fadet des laîches, False Ringlet, Coenonympha oedippus 😂🪣✅ @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Since discovery of Dainty Damselfly (Bluet), Coenagrion scitulum, at Sandwich Bay in 2019, whenever on foreign trips around the Med. I've been on the look-out for its "doppelgänger" in the south-west, the Mediterranean Bluet, C. caerulescens. Knowing both species occur in Sardinia it was game on!

At most lowland waters we found the endemic Island Bluetail, Ischnura genei. Very similar to I.elegans, i.d. requires examination of the pronotum however elegans is not on Sardinia & a green body is characteristic of genei. No such issues with Blue-eye, Goblet-marked Damselfly, E. lindenii #odonata

I've always found it strange how some 'butterfly-ists' disregard day-flying moths, especially interesting families such as Zygaenidae. While on Gennargentu, below Punta La Marmora, I watched these which I think are the endemic Corsican Burnet, Zygaena corsica.🤔 @europebutterfly.bsky.social #teammoth

With the good birding continuing into today, why not come stay at Dungeness Bird Observatory this weekend? #kentbirding

All week we saw swallowtails fly by & all were P.machaon! On the point of giving up on our last day we revisited a panoramic viewpoint overlooking Gola di Gorropu & were treated to 3-4 Corsican Swallowtails, P. hospiton, dog-fighting with Two-tailed Pashas 😂 Fantastico! @europebutterfly.bsky.social

A strong contender for most attractive butterfly was the Corsican Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais ichnusa (ancient name for Sardinia derived from Greek ichnos). There was only one way to celebrate - macarrones with ragu & parmigiano washed down with the eponymous local beer @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Whilst on Mt Gennargentu surveying Sardinian Blue, P. barbagiae, we recorded everything including two other regional endemics; Corsican Red-underwing Skipper, S. therapne & Corsican Heath, C. corinna, but were too early for Bellier's (Corsican Idas) Blue, P. bellieri.😞 @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Meadow Browns were a struggle. I think we were seeing the endemic Sardinian Meadow Brown, Maniola nurag, with Meadow Brown, M. jurtina, at all altitudes and not just >500m as described. Smaller, ♂️♀️ups more orange, plainer unh & ♂️with prominent sex-brand but variable😵‍💫🤔. @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Wherever we went in Sardinia, from sea level to 1500m+, Southern Blue, P.celina, Southern Brown Argus, A. cramera & Speckled Wood, P. aegeria, were ubiquitous & abundant - as were Corsican Wall Brown, Lasiommata paramegaera, endemic & confined to the Tyrrhenian Islands @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Of course it wasn't all work. En route from Olbia we were fortunate to find, on the coast near Orosei, a partial second brood Corsican Dappled White, Euchloe insularis, while near Galtelli, a Pygmy Skipper, Gegenes pumilio, in its preferred hot & dusty environment. @europebutterfly.bsky.social

‪Back from bella Sardegna with @samellisbutterfly.bsky.social & a European Butterfly Group team surveying the endangered endemic Sardinian Blue, Pseudophilotes barbagiae, on Monti del Gennargentu. Hard hot work, we were successful in discovering several new sites🥵😀👍🍾 @europebutterfly.bsky.social

This article captures the sinking feeling of the 2019 symposium listening to Wagner, Janzen, Hallachs & others share long-term, personal witness to insect declines. I had to leave the room partway through due to grief. @entsocamerica.bsky.social shares the talks here: youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Worth Marshes 27th May 2022 - for some strange reason a place and date which will live in for me (with apologies to FDR). Three years later same place, same date, same time and a couple of Hobbies waiting for the wind to drop, the temperature to rise and the dragonflies to take flight. #KentBirding