Cushion scale, Pulvinaria floccifera on Rhodos at SHeffield Park; 29 June 2019

Visited Sheffield Park in East Sussex today - lots of Cushion Scale on the Rhodos. Also causing a secondary sooty mould on the upper surfaces of the leaves.

Hypercallia citrinalis: West Kent: 26 June 2019

News of the sighting a few days ago of Hypercallia citrinalis was all the more interesting as the site is only ten minutes up the road (if you drive quite...positively). A trip out last night with John Clements was a pleasant affair - target moff (three of) located in ten minutes; a fabulous Roman Snail (only after which I learned that I shouldn't have even picked up!) and a pint in the pub before closing time!!

Hyercallia citrinalis

Hypercallia citrinalis

Roman Snail - an introduced yet protected species 

Swans from the front door: 20 June 2019

Couldn't even get out the house this morning...

Hornet Moths: Grain and Cliffe: 15 June 2019

After seeing and photographing a Hornet Moth at Grain with Fred Butcher, I managed to persuade Max to venture out with me the following weekend to search for 'our' Hornet Moth. After failing at Grain, we moved to Cliffe Marshes and found a lovely Hornet Moth clinging to a Poplar tree - fantastic!

New species of earwing to science...or not: 1 June 2019

Out today when I came across this white earwig. Thought it looked fun until a colleague said 'leave it 24 hours' - and sure enough, a day later it looked like any other earwig... We live and learn!

White-spotted Sable Moth Anania funebris at Bonsai Bank; 19 May 2019

Seeing recent pictures of White-spotted Sable Moth, Anania funebris, photographed at Bonsai Bank near Canterbury, was too much temptation. Heading out with Max, I asked him to look out for a smart black and white micro...and after two minor false alarms, he came up trumps!

Fantastic eh?

The Dukes of Bonsai Bank; 5 May 2019

Nice trip to Bonsai Bank today to visit the last (I think) colony of Duke of Burgundy in Kent. Lots on  the wing - many showing down to just a few centimeters in the cool-ish temps. Many Common Lizards (which were Lacerta vivipara but aren't any longer) including this dull individual and several of those stunning Red-and-black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata). All in all - a nice trip out.

Great-crested Newts: Bough Beech Res KWT; 17 March 2019

The kids attended a course at the KWT's Bough Beech Res today - and a great time exploring was had by all. Among all the bugs being caught was the finding of this Great-crested Newt - nice (if you like that sort of thing).

Black-throated Diver, Chatham: 26 Dec 2018

Took a few minutes away from the Christmas turkey to enjoy the delights of Chatham...Basin No.2! The Black-throated Diver showed quite well, though managed to keep away from wherever I was stationed.

Black-throated Diver, Chatham, Kent: 26 Dec 2018

Black-thoated Diver, Chatham, Kent: 26 Dec 2018

Black-throated Diver, Chatham, Kent: 26 Dec 2018

The Shag present was rather more cooperative.

Shag, Chatham: 26 Dec 2018

Later in the afternoon I managed to see the Ring-necked Duck from my lounge sofa - nice!

Ring-necked Duck, Leybourne Lakes: 26 Dec 2018

Ring-necked Duck, Leybourne Lakes: 26 Dec 2018

Converted a couple of today's pictures in to black and white - just to remind some friends what bird books of yesteryear used to look like...

Black-headed Gulls, Chatham, 26/12/18

Shag, Chatham, Kent: 26 Dec 2018

Ring-necked Duck, Leybourne Lakes; 26 Dec 2018

Ring-necked Duck from the lounge window: 23 Dec 2018

The report of a male Ring-necked Duck at Abbeymeads Pit, just a stone's throw, from 'my' gravel pit, had me scanning the water outside my house each morning with a little extra enthusiasm. Sure enough, a good scan on Saturday 22 Dec yielded bugger-all and I assumed the bird in question was still on its favoured pit a mile away (as the duck flies)...

Ring-necked Duck, Leybourne Lakes Country Park, 23/12/18

Checking my phone shortly after 10am, I had missed calls from Adam Whitehouse and John Clements - and that only meant one thing...someone else had relocated the Ring-necked Duck outside my house. Sure enough, after a bit of running (OK, ambling) around and there was the bird in question - fast asleep with Tufties and Pochard.

Ring-necked Duck, Leybourne Lakes Country Park, 23/12/18
(far right)

After taking a few naff record shots I returned home - it taking me a further hour before I could finally nail the bird from the lounge window!

Ring-necked Duck, Leybourne Lakes Country Park, 23/12/18
(somewhere in there..)

Whilst this visitor from North America is 'best' bird so far for the garden/house list, I am often reminded that the male Golden-winged Warbler of 1989 was seen where I now live. I missed it...as I spent winter of 88/89 in Jamaica - returning to the UK days after the ruddy thing had departed...

9 Dec 2018 - Red-necked Grebe, Lade GPs, Kent

I hadn't seen a Red-necked Grebe for yonks - yonks, and yonks, to be precise - so news of a long-stayer in the county eventually got the better of me. Saturday dawned bright and not too breezy - so for some strange reason I ended up delaying teh trip to the coast until it started to cloud over.

By the time I got Lade GPs with Max it was starting to drizzle. Thankfully we made the most of a dry thirty minutes and legged it over the gravel to see the grebe.

The light was naff, too much wind, blah, blah, blah...usual excuses...

Red-necked Grebe, Lade GPs, Kent. 4 Dec 2018

Red-necked Grebe, Lade GPs, Kent. 4 Dec 2018

Red-necked Grebe, Lade GPs, Kent. 4 Dec 2018

Red-necked Grebe, Lade GPs, Kent. 4 Dec 2018

Red-necked Grebe, Lade GPs, Kent. 4 Dec 2018

Red-necked Grebe, Lade GPs, Kent. 4 Dec 2018

We then headed on to Dungeness RSPB reserve to avoid the rain - enjoying a couple of Cattle Egrets en route.

Cattle Egret, Dungeness, Kent - 9/12/18

                                                                                                                                                                   

4 November 2018 - Salthouse

Traveled early to Salthouse to see the Stonechat spp that had taken up temporary residence. This one certainly looked from the pictures to be more Stejneger's than the Dungeness bird of two winters ago.

Arriving after dawn and taking the 4x4 to the correct gate, it wasn't long before I was taking a sneaky peek at the bird in question. Comparing the bird to the illustrations in the late Martin Garners 'Autumn Birds' it seemed a near-perfect fit.

Photos taken, which will doubtless adorn many a calendar, and I was on my way back - arriving with Dad near Cambridge, not long after he'd got up...

Note: The DNA result came back from this bird. A 1st year male Stejnerger's Stonechat indeed - and thankfully this is one current topic that does not need a further referendum...

Stejneger's Stonechat, Salthouse, Norfolk

Stejneger's Stonechat, Salthouse, Norfolk

Stejneger's Stonechat, Salthouse, Norfolk

Stejneger's Stonechat, Salthouse, Norfolk

Beluga Whale 25+29 September 2018, Gravesend, Kent

New mammals are few are far between, for me, these days so news around mid-day (25 Sept) of a Beluga Whale in Kent sounded too good to be true. Amazingly, however, the news was far from duff and subsequent messages seemed to confirm that this arctic cetacean was seemingly settled in a stretch of the river Thames near Gravesend - just 25 minutes from the office.

As occasionally happens...my working day involved some important guests and as the 'host' I could hardly depart. Thankfully, my guests decided to head back to London half an hour earlier than expected allowing me to take a slightly extended lunch break at 3pm.

Joined by Adrian Harris, the miles were soon being eaten up as we progressed 'quite positively' towards our chosen quarry. Whilst the sat nav seemed to be taking the correct route to the ideal parking location, our path was also being guided by BBC and Sky News helicopters. They were already in the air broadcasting the news to the masses.

The Beluga showed occasionally about two-thirds out across the Thames - amazing to see this white vagrant so close to home. I was back in the office at 5:10pm - nice!

29 September: With such a rare whale hanging in and seemingly looking fit and well, a return trip on the Saturday seemed a great opportunity for even better views. And so at 1pm, the Newham clan were all on the edge of the Thames trying to find the best vantage point from which to provide junior clan members with their first views of a whale.

The whale had moved upriver from Tuesday's sighting and was now just offshore from the Gravesend Sailing Club. Half the distance from earlier viewings, the resulting record shots are still hardly the stuff of the BBC Wildlife Photograph of the Year Awards! Not even sure I shall enter of them for the 2019 Countryfile Calendar...

Beluga Whale 29/9/18 Gravesend, Kent

Beluga Whale 29/9/18 Gravesend, Kent

Beluga Whale 29/9/18 Gravesend, Kent

Beluga Whale 29/9/18 Gravesend, Kent

And a Little Egret - just adding a little whiteness to the day...

Wasp Spiders, Grain, Kent. 8/9/18

Made a quick visit with Max to salt-marshes near Grain, Kent. Our quarry was some of the wonderful female Wasp Spiders that can be found in the low-growing vegetation. Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of wind which hampered much photography.

These beasts, first recorded in the UK in the 1920s are now found across much of southern England.

Wasp Spider, Grain, 8/9/18