28th June

Still nine juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls at the Patch this morning also five Mediterranean Gulls present and 45 Common Scoters flew west. A 2nd summer Yellow-legged Gull was with the Gull flock by the Fish Shack.


A Grey Seal and a Porpoise were seen offshore.


Few Insects were seen in the poor weather conditions but four Essex Skipper and ten Toadflax Brocade caterpillars were found.

Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis   Dungeness   28th June 2017 (Lee Gregory)

Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola   Dungeness 28th June 2017 (Lee Gregory)

Toadflax Brocade Calophasia lunula   Dungeness   28th June 2017 (Lee Gregory)

27th June

Mid-morning update.
A significant arrival of juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls at the Patch this morning with at least 16 birds present. Six Mediterranean Gulls also present and nine Eider and 98 Common Scoters flew past.

Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis   juveniles   Dungeness   27th June 2017

Herring Gull  Larus argentatus  nestlings   Dungeness   27th June 2017

Yellow-legged and Herring Gull youngsters are quite easy to separate at the moment! Yellow-legged Gulls nest several weeks earlier than Herring Gulls and the young are already fledging and departing the colonies. Herring Gulls are still fluffy. 

26th June

Very quiet on the land but seawatching produced 764 Gannets, seven Fulmars and five Mediterranean Gulls.

A Grey Seal and a Porpoise were also seen.

Four Essex Skippers were seen amongst the hundreds of Small Skippers and three very fresh second-brood Brown Argus were found. Two Hummingbird Hawk-moths were seen during the day whilst the moths trapped overnight included a Privet Hawk-moth, two Sussex Emeralds, two White Satins, the the pyralids Phycita roborella, Sitochroa palealis and Eudonia lacustrata. The first Brown Hawker dragonfly of the summer was also seen at the Long Pits. 

25th June

Another windy day and few birds to report other than good numbers of Gannets and a couple of Mediterranean Gulls offshore.

A Grey Seal was also seen offshore.

Good numbers of butterflies were on the wing and included the first Essex Skipper and Gatekeepers of the year.A Hummingbird Hawk-moth spent most of the afternoon and evening feeding at the Tree Mallow flowers in the Observatory garden.

At least 50 plants of Black Spleenwort were found growing on one of the few brick buildings near the Pilot and it appears to be a new species for the Observatory recording area.

24th June

In fairly windy conditions the sea provided four Manx Shearwaters, a Whimbrel and three Mediterranean Gulls of note. It was very quiet on the land with just a few Swifts passing through of interest.

A Grey Seal and a Porpoise were seen offshore.

23rd June

Not much to report. A few Swifts passed through and a Mediterranean Gull and a Yellow-legged Gull were seen offshore.

There was a decent overnight catch of moths with V-Pug, Swallow-tailed Moth, Bird's Wing, the pyralid Sitochroa palealis and 24 Diamond-backed Moths of note.

22nd June

The day began with thick fog but this eventually cleared to bring more warm and sunny conditions. Coverage was a bit limited today but two Manx Shearwaters, two Grey Plovers, 11 Little Terns and five Mediterranean Gull were of note.

Three Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.