Monday 15th

Well, a visit in overcast and not particularly warm conditions with a light NE breeze served to confirm that autumn is yet to start, the only bits of interest apart from the locals being 6 Swifts and 4 Sand Martins NE along the cliff, although 48 Swallows were feeding over the farm fields.

Monday 8th

Well, we survived the weekend’s Folk and Ale bash in Sandwich more or less unscathed and the beautiful weather, if a tad subdued, lasted well into today. The butterfly transect was similar to Saturday’s effort, though the first summer emergence of Small Coppers was evident, but a worrying aspect of the walk was the absence of any nectaring butterflies on the buddleia at the bottom of the valley, a situation that seems to be reflected everywhere. There was some avian activity, mainly down to Crossbill(s) that was/were calling from one of the clifftop gardens.

Saturday 6th

More or less calm and sunny, conditions were perfect for the weekly butterfly transect walk and numbers responded accordingly, with 203 butterflies, including the first Gatekeepers of the season. However, the best sighting was of a male Red-veined Darter on the clifftop; clearly a migrant and the first I can recall seeing here.