Second full day of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Serbia tour. I'm not usually superstitious but I refused to say 'False Comma Tour' in case I jinxed it! After cool cloudy conditions yesterday, today dawned hot & sunny, even so it was hours of sweat & fears before all came good....and relax!😅
Back at Sandwich Bay fully recovered from my Moroccan crash diet. Already 26'C by 9am & a quick search revealed a single immature ♀️Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly plus a couple of Dainties while Bee-eater called unseen high overhead. A Black-tailed Skimmer with fused forewings, maybe a body fluid leak?
I'd birded Morocco 10 years ago but in Feb so there were 3 'summer' species I hoped to see while with @mariposanature.bsky.social. Atlas (Seebohm's) Wheatear, (relatively common at Col du Zad & numbers noticeably increased during the week) & Atlas Flycatcher, several pairs in woodland near Ain Leuh.
Common Spotted Orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii - a first for my garden thanks to #NoMowMay #LawnFlowers #WildflowerHour #KentNature
A 'fused' Burnished Brass sp. in my East Kent garden last night. Is it Diachrysia chrysitis ab. tutti (ab. junta) or Pacific Burnished Brass, Diachrysia stenochrysis (aka Cryptic Burnished Brass or Fused Burnished Brass). A joining line of 3mm (at least on the lhs😬) suggests the latter 🤔 #TeamMoth
Eyes down 'dragonflying' this morning on Worth Marshes. Fortunately the other guys were more 'eyes up' & picked out this distant female (2 CY?) Red-footed Falcon also 'dragonflying' (but in a far more predatory manner) over fields between Roaring Gutter & Fowlmead/Betteshangar CP. #KentBirding
Thanks to the sharp ears of Michele Vigano we also found a Western Olivaceous (Isabelline) Warbler. It obviously hadn't read its Collins because it was not in tamarisk but singing in a cherry orchard near Ain Leuh and sounding confusingly (at least to my ear) like Melodious Warbler.
Visiting cherry orchards near Ain Leuh with @mariposanature.bsky.social we found this well-marked Meadow Brown. Surprised to learn it's not ssp. hispulla but 'the' Meadow Brown 'jurtina' based on a N. African specimen sent to Linnaeus by the Swedish Consul in Algiers. @europebutterfly.bsky.social
Whilst searching for Atlas Blue at Col du Zad with @mariposanature.bsky.social we kept getting distracted by the Spotted Adonis, Polyommatus punctifera. As ever, the English vernacular (& my photographs😬) don't quite capture its beauty. Of course the French say it much better; L’Azuré du Maghreb.
Andrew Lipczyński
Andrew Lipczyński
Andrew Lipczyński
Andrew Lipczyński
Andrew Lipczyński
Andrew Lipczyński
Andrew Lipczyński
Andrew Lipczyński
Andrew Lipczyński
Have you seen that we are running our annual moth event again this July?! Last year's event, over two hundred species of moth were seen!
Why not come along? We already have people booked on for both the evening and morning sessions of this year's event!
Dungeness Bird Observatory
Have you been taking part in #NoMowMay or opting for a #NoMowSummer? The challenge this week is to show us your #LawnFlowers! No lawn? See what’s blooming in another local grassed area instead. Share your pics for #WildflowerHour this Sunday 8-9pm. Happy flower hunting! 🌸🌾🌼
