RXwildlife Sightings

Highlights from Castle water today included, 6 Greenshank, 7 Green Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper, 300 Lapwing, 4 Golden Plover, Marsh Harrier, Hobby, 5 Bearded Tit and 36 Little Egret left the roost at dawn.

Saturday 2 August
9.30 am to 11.30 am
Recent visitors to our traps have included pygmy footman, Sussex emerald and scarce chocolate tip.
No need to book.
Adults £5, concessions £4, juniors £2. There is a 50% discount for RSPB and Wildlife Explorer members.

A little stint was spotted on the reserve this morning, then managed to avoid being spotted again for the rest of the day. Also on the reserve today are black-necked grebes, common sandpipers and green sandpipers. Just to let you all know of a date to put in your diaries, the Dungeness Wildlife and Countryside Fair. This will be on the weekend 9th and 10th of August from 10am until 5pm both days. Admission is free and there will be plenty for all the family to do.

An excellent few days in the Lime Kiln moth trap (even last night despite the thunderstorm), with an average of around 60 species a night, the majority either Dark Arches, Dusky Sallow or Smoky Wainscot. Highlight among a wide range of notables was the first record of the rare micro Monochroa palustrella (below) at Rye Harbour for over 10 years (and only the fifth overall).

The sea again provided most of the interest, especially around the early evening high-tide, when two Balearic Shearwaters gave excellent views, along with two Pomarine Skuas, ten Arctic Skuas, a Great Skua, two Mediterranean Gulls and two adult Roseate Terns. It was quiet on the land again but a party of seven Crossbills flew over and three Willow Warblers were seen.

David Walker from DBO website.

A new species for me in the past week has been knotted pearlwort Sagina nodosa. This tiny pretty plant was growing in one of the more artificial habitats on the Dungeness RSPB Reserve.

Knotted pearlwort has declined significantly in south-east England since the 1950’s with the only recent records in Kent being at Dungeness and Sandwich Bay. It is also recorded in the Rye area in East Sussex.

There were hundreds of these Read the rest of this entry »

Sightings from yesterday and today have included black necked grebe, garganey, whimbrel, snipe and regular sightings of common and green sandpiper. Also for the second time this week ravens have been spotted flying over the reserve.

Up until recently Roesel’s Bush Cricket was little seen on the reserve, with only a couple of records from the Beach Reserve and Castle Farm. Yesterday however saw three separate individuals recorded, including a male and female (below) from Lime Kiln Cottage, and a further male from a light trap run by the Sussex Moth Group last night (near the end of the sea-defence bank)!

Read the rest of this entry »

This yellow member of the daisy family grows on wet ground and is flowering now. Its common name suggests it would get rid of fleas, but its specific name Pulicaria dysenterica suggests a cure for dysentery(and fleas are in a superfamily called Pulicoidea). A web search found “The bruised leaves have a soap-like smell. They are astringent and can be used in the treatment of dysentery.” However, “Flora Britannica” says “its insect-deterrent powers may not be entirely fanciful. It is a comparatively close relative of the species which supplies the insecticide ‘pyrethrum’.”

This unimproved meadow, near Three Oaks, has been mown for the last two years, but this time will be grazed by cattle.
It is full of different vetches and grasses, with dense patches of Meadowsweet and Yellow Rattle, a few Greater Knapweed and a white horizon of Hogweed.

Read the rest of this entry »