Strong southerly winds brough a bit more variety to the seawatching where seven hours of coverage eventually produced a Sooty Shearwater, 630 Kittiwakes,159 Little Gulls, 35 Mediterranean Gulls, 18 Sandwich Terns, an Arctic Tern, nine Arctic Skuas, 1521 Razorbills and the highlight in the form of a Grey Phalarope. Grounded migrants were relatively scarce although three Dartford Warblers, two Firecrests and a Wheatear were of note and passage overhead included two Great White Egrets, 21 Swallows, 470 Starlings, three Rock Pipits, 1060 Goldfinches and 73 Siskins.
Three Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.
Moths provided much of the days excitement with a remarkable total of five Crimson Speckled being found during the day and two Palpita vitrealis, a Vestal, two Scarce Bordered Straws and a White-speck trapped overnight. Six Ornate Shieldbugs and two Forest Bugs were seen from around the Observatory and a Tree Cricket was heard singing at dusk.
 |
| Crimson Speckled Utethesia pulchella Dungeness 27th October 2022 One of the five Crimson Speckled seen in the DBO recording area today. |