Satyr Pug, chalk downland near Sevenoaks: 26 June 2020

Had a walk up the downs with Fred Butcher. Among the many micros we netted was this one pug - initially and with fading eyesight (in naff light), I assumed it to be a Grey Pug. Fred considered otherwise and correctly so. The following morning and with the benefit of my camera, the full beauty of this Satyr Pug was evident.

The true highlight of this evening was this Hypercallia citrinalis. Discovered in 2019 after being presumed extinct in the UK since 1975...!

Depressaria daucella, Holborough Marshes: 14 June 2020

Took a hour out this morning with Max to visit the nearby Holborough Marshes KWT reserve. Although few highlights in this short trip, we were chuffed to find some stunning wee caterpillars feeding on an umbellifer species. Thanks to the skills of Josie Hewitt, it seems that the cats were from the less-than-stunning Depressaria daucella - thank you Josie!

Depressaria daucella, Holborough Marshes: 14 June 2020

Depressaria daucella, Holborough Marshes: 14 June 2020

Moffin at St Margarets: 12/06/20

Had a coupl eof hours on Friday night to pop to St Margarets at Cliffe and illuminate the valley... Conditions were less than ideal - I started the evening wishing I'd delayed things 24 hours. Fox and Vine Moths were probably the highlights, though Netted Pug (8) and Shaded Pug (6) did their best to entertain.

Vine Moth

Netted Pug

Shaded Pug

Marbled Coronet

Pale Shoulder: Dungeness - 7 June 2020

News on the pager of a Pale Shoulder in the garden of Dungeness Bird Obs was exciting - if you like that sort of thing - as it hadn't been trapped at light and was therefore 'countable' in my personal moth listing criteria. Popping to Dunge again after an earlier trip (see earlier Swallowtail post) was perhaps excessive, but how else could I see a genuine Pale Shoulder??? Travelling through the heavy rain, I wasn't overly optimistic that it would still be in the exact same patch of the garden. It wasn't. What I hadn't realised was that the moth in question had been potted soon after its discovery. Oh well - nice picture perhaps, but my quest for a Pale Shoulder in the UK continues!

Pale Shoulder, Dungeness Bird Obs; 7 June 2020

Quarry Wood; 7 June 2020

A few bits from Quarry Wood, near Coxheath, Kent on Sunday. Names on them to follow in due course!

Swallowtail at Denge Marsh: 7 June 2020

With an adult Rose-coloured Starling at Denge Marsh on Saturday, I decided upon a short coastal visit with Max... After failing to visit the RSPB Dungeness reserve (I hadn't realised they were all still closed), we popped round to Denge Marsh to try our luck with the RCS. No sooner had I stopped the truck (10:20am), that I saw what looked like a Swallowtail Butterfly just a couple of metres in from the road. Exiting the vehicle and grabbing camera (I should have done that the other way round), I was able to confirm that I hadn't been imaging things!






I got a WhatsApp message out to Kent Birders and managed to attract the attention of the O'Reilys - at least we now had someone else on it.


The butterfly was initially on Viper's Bugloss and grasses, but later, when a small crowd of twelve or so had gathered, it was on Hemlock (I think!).



With kids taking priority over the past few years, it's been over a decade since I have seen Swallowtail in the UK - this though was my first record of the continental subspecies. And a self-find as well!!