Re: Dave Brown by dave brown, 05-Jan-13 08:31 PM GMT Is it January? Is it March? Or is it both? Well the date is certainly early January, but the temperatures are more like mid March. The moth we saw today is March both by name and nature. The March Moth does not usually appear until late February or early March so todays sighting in the hand is almost 6 weeks early. It must surely be as a result of temperatures around 10-12 degrees over recent days, despite the dull light. In between Xmas duties and decorating we have squeezed in a little nature watching. 30 DECEMBER 2012 The Great White Egret remained on Conningbrook Gravel pits with 3 Little Egrets and a Peregrine. Next stop was Elmley RSPB where 26 Ruf, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Common Buzzard where along the entrance track. Funton produced 100 Avocets and lots of Pintail and Wigeon. Near Leysdown, at the junction with the Harty Ferry Road, we saw a flock of 13 Waxwings feeding in roadside bushes. Finally we saw 5 Brambling in with 200 Chafnches feeding on Sunflower seed around Muswell Manor. 25 more Waxwings were at Bobbing near the Jenny Wren pub. 01 JANUARY 2013. We anticiapted that Dungeness would be crowded to overflowing, and by all accounts it was, so we headed to Grove Ferry and only found 4 other birders there. 9 Waxwings were present near the viewing ramp. The reedbeds produced Stonechat, Cettis Warbler, Bearded Tit, Ringtail Hen Harrier, 2 Marsh Harriers, Common Buzzard, Water Pipit, Snipe and Little Egret. There was 4 Bewick Swans on Chislet Marshes and to end the day we watched 4 Hawfinches come into roost at the site near Canterbury. 02 JANUARY 2013. A Waxwing visited our next door neighbours TV ariel for 5 minutes in the morning. It may have been looking for its mates judging by the numbers appearing in Kent at the moment. 04 JANUARY 2013. Now that visitor numbers will be lower due to people returning to work it was time to visit Dungeness. What a good day. We started on Walland Marsh seeing the wintering Common Crane, 2 Whooper Swans, 29 Bewick Swans, Merlin, 4 Tree Sparrows, 2 Marsh Harriers and 30 Fieldfares. Next stop was the ARC pit to see a fine male Smew accompanied by 3 females. Then the opposite with 3 male Goldeneyes with 1 female (trouble brewing there). 1 Great White Egret with many Shoveller, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal and Lapwing. There was 2 Great White Egrets and a Little Egret on New Diggings. Burrowes Pit produced Goosander, 12 Pintails, 3 Goldeneyes and many Wigeon. 3 Tree Sparrows were present around Boulderwall Farm. The sea was exciting with the Glaucous Gull still present, 24 Gannets, 12 Kittiwakes, 5 Razorbills, many Auks, Red Throated Divers and Great Crested Grebes. We ended the day at Scotney Gravel pits and the place was heaving with birds. The number of Golden Plover must have been 5,000 plus a few thousand Lapwing. Very large numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Mallard and 8 Pintail. Also one Slavonian Grebe, Marsh Harrier and 5 Whitefronts. What a brillant day. 05 JANUARY 2013. Intending to have a lazy day today a message informing us of a Bean Goose on Scotney soon changed that. We picked up the Tundra Bean Goose almost immediatley on arrival, along with 12 Pintail and yesterdays Slavonian Grebe. The large numbers of Golden Plover, Lapwing and Wigeon remained. We again saw the Common Crane near the Woolpack Inn. We ended the day at our friends house enjoying views of the March Moth, 2 Mottled Umbers, Chestnut and Early Moth. Another good day in the field. Dave March Moth on the 5th of January. A record photo of one of the four Hawfinches coming into their pre roost site. Re: Dave Brown by dave brown, 12-Jan-13 07:58 PM GMT One becomes Two. Not only does our garden Wood Mouse survive the local cats but it has now been joined by another (Mrs?). This second one appears to have whiter cheeks but I have no idea whether its a pair or just two Wood Mice. We have taken to feeding them by leaving hearts, other seeds and the odd piece of cheese. All taken quite quickly as they dart to and fro. Birding has taken a back seat recently as we catch up on decorating although we have still squeezed in a little watching. On Tuesday a days local birding produced 3 Little Egrets on Conningbrook and a nice male Goosander on Eastwell Lake. On Wednesday (9th Jan) news of 2 Scaup sent us to Oare Marshes where we enjoyed views of a male and female Scaup on the East Flood. Also 6 Pintail, Peregrine, 2 Marsh Harriers and 250 Brent Geese (on the Swale). The light was too poor for photographs of the Scaup, which would have been nice as these are now a scarce bird in Kent. On Wednesday there had been a mass movement of Auks of the Dungeness coast. At least 30,000 birds, of which 18,000 were Razorbills. This must have been an impressive sight and certainly most unusual for Kent. The next day a further 12,000 were logged, again with the majority being Razorbills. We did not go out until the afternoon (Thursday) by which time the big movement had ceased, although we did see good numbers of both Gullimot and Razorbill. These were joined by Red Throated Divers and at least 20 Kittiwakes. Another feature at present is the large number of Great Crested Grebes in the bay with estimates of at least 2,000. The ARC pit held a Great White Egret, 3 Goldeneyes, Little Egret, many Wigeon, Gadwall, Shoveller and Teal. Finally 2 Chifchafs were at the Dungeness end of the pit. Our first this year. We ended the day checking the waders around the coast between Lade and St Marys Bay but found nothing out of the ordinary, just more auks sitting on the sea. Dave Re: Dave Brown by dave brown, 14-Jan-13 08:14 PM GMT With snow falling across quite a few counties today I thought that I would try and cheer you up with a reminder of a real goodie to look forward to. That goodie is the Chequered Skipper. For most UK members that means a very long journey (except for Jack), and possibly as part of a holiday, in what can only be described as a stunning part of the British Isles. Most visitors from the South head for the nearest location, namely Glasdrum, which can be very busy at the peak times. We made such a journey in June 2011 and the attached photo of the entrance welcome sign was taken just before 6am. It was nice and sunny until about 9am when cloud and drizzle arrived. Needless to say we saw none that morning but luckily we caught up with Chequered Skipper later in the week at Strontian. It will be interesting to see how the species, and others, fare this year following the appalling weather of 2012. The entrance to Glasdrum Wood and the wonderful Chequered Skipper. Re: Dave Brown by dave brown, 19-Jan-13 03:26 PM GMT SUNDAY 13 JAN 2013 Today was a mix of family visiting and birding. We stopped by the beach at Seasalter where there was good numbers of common waders, including a big group of Curlew. We then checked the area around the Tesco's and the adjacent estate at Whitstable where a flock of Waxwings had been present, but no sign today. Our final call was Hampton Pier near Herne Bay where 2 Purple Sandpipers were present, along with a adult Med Gull, 14 Brent Geese, 7 Red Throated Divers and 2 Common Scoter. Two geese seen flying very briefly between houses near Swaleclife were probably Egyptian, but the views were too brief for positive ID. There is not much else that looks like them but this would be an unusual sighting for North Kent. The day was very dull and bitterly cold so it was nice to get home in the warm. TUESDAY 15 JAN 2013 A visit to Pett Level produced 2 Whitefronted Geese, 2 Common Buzzard and 2 Marsh Harriers. Otherwsie it was just good numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, Curlew and Lapwing. There was no sign of the Common Crane on Walland, just Common Buzzard and Marsh Harrier. The ARC pit was very quiet with just 2 Goldeneye and many Shoveler of note. A Firecrest was showing near the Willow Trail and finally a Great White Egret was on New Diggings. Nearby Scotney was really quiet after the excesses of last week. Most of the Geese and Ducks had disappeared and very few Lapwings or Golden Plover were present. THURSDAY 17JAN 2013. Scotney was much better today with most of the geese (feral) returning. Good numbers of Wigeon but best of all was 2 Slavonian Grebes showing in the middle bay of the pit. Another visit to the ARC pit produced a female Smew, Redwing and 3 Marsh Harriers, otherwise much the same as the last few visits. 2 Great White Egrets and 1 Little Egret on the New Diggings but still no sign of the Common Crane on Walland. Despite the cold quite a few insects, mainly knats, were on the wing and providing food for the roving Tit flocks. With the weather we have just had, and that forecast, I think there is little chance of any moths or butterflies here in Kent for the rest of January.