Broom in bloom

New Romney - warm, dry and cloudy, light airs - The garden moth trap continues to attract low numbers and species of macros. I guess I`m going to have to live with the fact that trapping in a town centre with lots of ambient lighting is never going to live up to Plovers down on the shingle. Although I`m also going to experiment with repositioning the trap around the garden and perhaps switching to the blue light to see if that makes a difference, we shall see... Having said that last nights catch of nine species did include a Toadflax Brocade, a scarce moth nationally, as well as Buff-tip and Common Marbled Carpet, all new for the site.

                                 Toadflax Brocade, NR

                                  Common Marbled Carpet, NR

Lade - Checked out the local patch first thing where at least two male Cuckoos were active around the willow swamp, otherwise all was quiet on the bird front. However, the recent rainfall and warm sunshine has brought forth a spectacular show of Prostrate Broom across the shingle lands between here and the Kerton Road and around to the power station. In the quarry the bay waders were conveniently roosting together affording an accurate count: 285 Oystercatchers, 20 Curlews, six Bar-tailed Godwits and singles of Whimbrel, Greenshank and Grey Plover. 

                                 Roosting waders, including a Grey Plover

                                  Garganey, ARC

                                 Ring-necked Duck, ARC

Dungeness - On the bird reserve a drake Garganey had joined the Ring-necked Duck and other common wildfowl on ARC, nice and close on an island in front of Hanson hide. It was good to see a Kingfisher zipping about over the lake and a Hobby behind the water tower. Four Cattle Egrets were on the Boulderwall fields, but it was a grim picture on Burrowes with not a single tern or passage wader, but plenty of nesting Herring and Lesser Black-blacked Gulls.

    What a show!