EVENSONG

A male blackbird has taken up a song perch outside my front door and he is regularly serenading in the evening sunshine.

"I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YEW?"

A pair of goldfinches are also regular visitors to the niger seeds.

A Painted Lady was seen at Samphire Hoe on Sunday morning,a very early arrival,hopefully it will be a good year for this long distance migrant,another early migrant turned up in the moth trap.

PAINTED LADY

SILVER Y.

An afternoon trip to Stodmarsh on monday turned up a few hobbies on the wing a calling cuckoo,numerous reed and sedge warblers,nightingale,garden warbler,booming bittern,an influx of swifts and sand martins,several displaying marsh harriers and greylag geese already with youngsters on the water.

GARDEN WARBLER

MOTHER GOOSE

HOBBY in smart red trousers.

HOBBY Enjoying in flight meal.
There was also an encouraging number of butterflies on the wing especially peacock and small tortoishell,with a single red admiral in very good condition.

RED ADMIRAL

Tuesday was notable only for a monumental miss by yours truly at the Hoe when a MONTAGUS HARRIER snuck into the country behind my back,but couldn`t escape the eagle eyed Ian Roberts.
The evening was much better when a trip to Eastleigh near Southampton gave Dover a terrific 3-1 win in the first leg of play off semi final,come on you whites,second leg at home saturday,got to bed 1am.

Yesterday a trip to the marsh gave me a few more firsts for the year in lesser whitethroat,yellow wagtail and common sandpiper at Botolphs Bridge and common tern and garganey at Dunge.A bright sunny day but the nagging easterly breeze took the edge off things.

MALE CHAFFINCH in full throated song.

Called in to Ham Street woods on the way home and recorded Brimstone,Speckled Wood,Orangetip and good numbers of Peacocks once more.

BRIMSTONE

ORANGETIP

SPECKLED WOOD

Thats it for now dear reader,I`ll be back soon.