9th Aug

The hot, dry weather continues and it remains fairly quiet on the land with eight Willow Warblers, a Sedge Warbler, ten Reed Warblers, a Nightingale and a Redstart and the highlight of two Grasshopper Warblers. Birds passing overhead included 29 Swifts, four Grey Plover, a Redshank and a Greenshank, 46 Sand Martins, 48 Swallows and 41 Yellow Wagtails. Ten Mediterranean Gull were feeding offshore.

A Grey Seal and 12 Porpoises were seen.

The highlights from the moth traps included two Purple Marbled, a Scarce Bordered Straw and a Channel Island Pug.

Purple Marbled Eublemma ostrina   Dungeness   9th August 2026

8th Aug

A Little Egret, four Buzzards and 12 Yellow Wagtails flew over while a small arrival of migrants in the bushes included 11 Willow Warblers, a Sedge Warbler, 15 Reed Warblers and four Lesser Whitethroats, a Nightingale calling in the trapping area and a Redstart. A juvenile Caspian Gull flew past the Point and 200 Sandwich Terns and 50 Common Terns were feeding offshore.

Nine Porpoises and three Grey Seals were feeding offshore.

The moth traps came up trumps with another Eastern Bordered Straw, seven Small Mottled Willows, a Small Ranunculus, two Tree-lichen Beauty's and also a Hemp Agrimony Plume which is a new species for the Observatory traps. A Clouded Yellow butterfly was also seen.

Hemp Agrimony Plume Adaina microdactyla   Dungeness   8th August 2026

Eastern Bordered Straw Heliothis nubigera   Dungeness   8th August 2026

Two Large Coneheads were singing at the north end of the Long Pits and a Southern Oak Bush-cricket was seen in the Observatory garden where 15 Mediterranean Stick-insects were also seen.

Elsewhere, a male Montagu's Harrier was seen on the Lydd Ranges,

7th Aug

Still the heat goes on. A few migrants in the bushes included 23 Willow Warblers, nine Lesser Whitethroats, 40 Whitethroats and a Nightingale. A check of the beach at low tide produced the days highlight in the form of an adult Roseate Tern among 400 Sandwich Terns and a Black Tern while waders included ten Ringed Plovers, ten Turnstones, 45 Sanderlings and 150 Dunlin. There were also 25 Mediterranean Gulls and two juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls.

Four Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore and a Brown Hare was seen on the land.

The moth traps were fairly poor in terms of numbers but still produced our eighth Striped Hawkmoth of the year, a Rest Harrow, a Bordered Straw and 14 Small Mottled Willows. Seven Clouded Yellows were also seen. 

Striped Hawkmoth Hyles livornica   Dungeness   7th August 2026

Two Lesser Emperors and a Red-veined Darter were seen at the Long Pits.

 An evening visit to look for the rarer orthoptera produced six singing Large Coneheads, two Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets and a superb chorus from the Tree Crickets while three Southern Oak Bush-crickets and ten Mediterranean Stick-insects were seen in the Observatory garden.

6th Aug

Another very hot day. Commoner migrants were scattered around the Point including 28 Willow Warblers, 11 Sedge Warblers, 23 Reed Warblers, two Garden Warblers and 20 Lesser Whitethroats and a Little Ringed Plover and nine Yellow Wagtails flew over. There was a large feeding frenzy offshore which included 300 Mediterranean Gulls, two juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls and 300 Sandwich Terns.

There were ten Porpoises and three Grey Seals feeding offshore.

The highlight from the moth traps was a Cosmopolitan along with six Small Mottled Willows and a Cydia amplana. A Clouded Yellow and four Brown Argus were also seen.

Cosmopolitan Mythimna loreyi   Dungeness   6th August 2026

There were two sighting of the rare fly Dune Villa Villa modesta but they avoided capture or cameras and a Lesser Emperor dragonfly was seen at the Long Pits.

A Mediterranean Stick-insect and a Southern Oak Bush-cricket were seen in the Observatory garden.

5th Aug

Still hot and sunny but with a fresh NE wind. Very quiet on the bird front with just a Common Sandpiper, 11 Mediterranean Gulls and around 400 Sandwich Terns of note.

Seven Porpoises and three Grey Seals were feeding offshore.

4th Aug

Very quiet despite the calmer conditions. Visible migration was limited to 54 Sand Martins and 15 Yellow Wagtails and a Garden Warbler was about the best in the bushes. Two Arctic Skuas flew west in the evening and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was seen at the fishing boats.

A Brown Hare was seen on the land and four Porpoises were feeding offshore.

A Vestal, four Small Mottled Willows and a Cydia amplana were the highlights from the fairly quiet moth traps.

Vestal Rhodometra sacraria   Dungeness   3rd August 2026 

3rd Aug

Strong NE winds overnight and for much of the day. Three Marsh Harriers flew over the area and a Kingfisher was seen at the Long Pits again. Despite the windy conditions a decent haul of grounded migrants were seen including 13 Willow Warblers, 39 Reed Warblers, three Blackcaps, six Lesser Whitethroats, 71 Whitethroats, a Whinchat, three Wheatears and six Yellow Wagtails. A Mediterranean Gull and a third-summer Yellow-legged Gull were seen at the fishing boats.

Five Porpoise and three Grey Seals were feeding offshore.

A Lesser Emperor dragonfly was seen at the Long Pits.

2nd Aug

Fewer birds in the bushes in the continuing hot conditions. A thorough search produced  31 Willow Warblers, three Sedge Warblers, 49 Reed Warblers and 45 Whitethroats and singles of Redshank and Greenshank flew over.  

A Porpoise and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

Two Small Mottled Willows were the only notable moths from the traps.

1st Aug

The month started where July ended with continuing hot and dry conditions. There was another decent drop of common migrants including 80 Willow Warblers, seven Sedge and 84 Reed Warblers, a Garden Warbler, 22 Lesser Whitethroats, 75 Whitethroat, a Dartford Warbler, a Pied Flycatcher and a Whinchat. 19 Sand Martins also flew over and 100 Mediterranean Gulls were on the Point this evening.

The numbers of moths in the traps continues to be very low but it was high in quality with a Gypsy Moth and another two Eastern Bordered Straws of note.

Five Lesser Emperors were seen at the Long Pits.

At least 15 Wasp Spiders were found around the Bird Observatory and with at least one in the back garden.

Another evening check for rare orthoptera produced two singing Large Coneheads and lots of Tree Crickets and two Southern Oak Bush-crickets were found in the moth traps in the evening.

31st July

The drought/heatwave continues to the end of month. There was a very decent scattering of migrants in the bushes including a juvenile Cuckoo, 42 Willow Warblers, nine Sedge Warblers, 63 Reed Warblers, two Garden Warblers, 31 Lesser Whitethroats, 75 Whitethroats and a Redstart.  A flock of 100 Mediterranean Gulls passed offshore and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was seen at the fishing boats, four Grey Herons came in and 36 Sand Martins, 16 Swallows, 12 Yellow Wagtails and a Tree Pipit flew over. A flock of 21 White Storks also flew over but it is hard to get too excited by them these days.

Three Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore

Three Lesser Emperors were seen at the Long Pits.

Although moth numbers are actually quite low we still caught seven Cydia amplana, the uncommon pyralid Deplanqueia inscriptella, a Striped Hawkmoth 16 Small Mottled Willows while seven Hummingbird Hawkmoths were seen during the day.

Deplanquiea inscriptella   Dungeness   31st July 2026

An evening visit to the trapping area produced four singing Large Coneheads and lots of Tree Crickets.