A reasonable morning with an arrival of 70 Chiffchaffs, 55 Blackcaps, five Song Thrushes and three Wheatear on the land and some overhead passage including 1,000 Swallows, 100 House Martins and 50 Siskins. The sea was very quiet day with just 17 Mediterranean Gulls feeding offshore of interest.
A Brown Hare was seen in the Desert.
The moth traps continue to provide plenty of interest and todays star moth was the very diminutive Dialectica scalariella. This extremely rare moth was added to the area list last year when it was found to be breeding in the recording area last autumn. Adults were subsequently reared through from larvae in October but this is the first one to be caught as a wild adult. The larvae feed on Viper's Bugloss.
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| Dialectica scalariella Dungeness 2nd October 2023 |
Other moths of great interest interest included two Palpita vitrealis, four Vestals, a Gem, five Delicates and a Radford's Flame Shoulder.
Checking of the Small Coppers found this named aberration - ab.extensa.
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| Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas ab.extensa Dungeness 2nd October 2023 |
Two Mediterranean Stick-insects were found in the Observatory garden.