Longfield Chalk Bank

Not much time today so only an hour on the chalk bank. Managed to see the same female slow worm under the same mat also chiffchaff and blackcap in song. Very wet underfoot and no sign of any bee orchids that have been seen there in the past.

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Jeskyns

In spring 2005 the Foresty Commission purchased Jeskyns Farm, Cobham with the aim of creating a ‘community woodland’. Given that it is a short drive from Longfield, this is only my second trip but it is already looking great and will be a fantastic nature site and public space in the future.

There are a lot of trees being grown across the site but there are also 3 or 4 places which are going to be left as meadows and a couple of these already show impressive wild flower displays.

Jeskyns with wild meadow in far distance.

One of the meadows, with cornflower, white campion, ragged robin, red campion, oxe eye daisy and corn chamomile at least.

Cornflower. A scarce naturally occurring wild flower of calcareous soils. I'm guessing these have been seeded by the Forestry Commission although I think they do occur naturally at Ranscombe Farm which is only a couple of miles further east. A fantastically rich blue colour against the whites of the daisy's and chamomile.

The meadow areas are especially popular with corn bunting and skylark. On one wire I had 7 corn buntings with much singing, just great.

Corn Buntings


There are a few ponds as well with skylarks coming down to drink. This particular bird shows off the length of the hind claw quite well.

Skylark

Another meadow area was just crammed with ox-eye daisies.


Amongst them the odd vipers bugloss.

With the Biggin Hill airshow over the weekend I was pleased to see this B25 Mitchell bomber fly over. What a great sound from the twin radial engines. I am a bit of a closet military aircraft enthusiast as well.

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Longfield - Moths

Another good night in the mv trap.
Common pug 2, light emerald 2, willow beauty 3, common wainscott 1, uncertain 1, rustic 1, common rustic 1, angle shades 1, marbled minor 1, privet hawk moth 1, elephant hawk moth 1, treble lines 1, light brocade 1, turnip moth 4, shuttle-shaped dart 1, garden carpet 1, heart and dart 1, white ermine 1, large nutmeg 1, rustic shoulder knot 1.

Elephant & Privet Hawk Moths


Elephant Hawk Moth. This is a male, because of the pointed tip to the abdomen, a female would have a more square ended tip. The English name of this moth is derived from the caterpillar's resemblance to an elephant's trunk. It is one of my favourites, what a cracker!



Privet Hawk Moth

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Dean Bottom

This is an area of farmland near to Longfield, quite a nice short walk loop, through oil seed and wheat fields and then through Churchdown Wood on the way back.

I kicked up this day flying moth in the long grass and I don't remember having seen it before although it isn't that uncommon. It is named after a 16th century Yorkshire witch called Old Mother Shipton. If you look across the wing you can see a caricature of an old hag with a hooked nose.

Mother Shipton


I think these guys are a type of sawfly larva but not sure which one. Still I don't think there will be much left of the host plant once they have had their fill. When I touched the leaf they were feeding on they retracted back into the silk for safety.



Tried to go all arty with the fields of wheat.


Did manage to get a few birds, corn bunting 6, whitethroat 1, cuckoo 1, blackcap 1, chiffchaff 1 and small tortoiseshell butterfly 1.

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Longfield - Moths

A good night for moths with an overcast sky, hardly any breeze and not too cold. With my mv trap I caught 36 moths of 23 species. The nights list being:
Heart and dart 1, buff-tip 1, light emerald 1, cinnabar 1, marbled minor/tawny marbled minor 2, angle shades 2, treble lines 4, grey pine carpet 1, garden carpet 1, pale mottled willow 1, common marbled carpet 1, common pug 2, the campion 1, turnip moth 1, light brocade 2, white ermine 1, willow beauty 3, clay 1, uncertain 3, large nutmeg 2, rustic shoulder knot 2, lime-speck pug 1, treble brown spot 1.

Willow Beauty


Light Emerald


Light Brocade

I'm unsure on this next one. I have it down as clay but it is a bit early but doesn't quite tick all the right boxes for white-point which would be better given the date. Any thoughts out there?

Clay ?

Angle Shades

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Shorne Marshes

What a great morning after all that rain and cloud, went to Shorne marshes for a walk. Somewhere out here there is an RSPB reserve. I'm hoping that after they have sorted Cliffe marshes out they will be able to turn their attention to this place and help improve and maintain the habitat, maybe even get a few wader scrapes, who knows.



This is the now unused Thames and Medway canal. The Rivers Thames and Medway were joined by this eight-mile long canal, the construction of which started in 1805. With basins providing ports and access to the two rivers at Gravesend and Strood, the canal passed through a two-mile Higham tunnel, broken in the centre by a shaft to allow boats to pass. Construction was difficult and expensive and it was not completed until 1824.

On the walk down to the river Thames, I managed to see a couple of small heath butterflies, this one has its face buried in the buttercup.

Small Heath


The walk is an easy one along a metalled track and either side there are good stands of hawthorn and dog rose which are favoured by goldfinch.

Goldfinch


Down nearer the river embankment it gets easier to see the marsh frogs that are calling everywhere. Most of the time I kick them up out of the grass bordering the ditches and they jump back into the water and disappear but with this one, I noticed it, before it noticed me.

Marsh Frog


I also picked up this female banded demoiselle.

Banded Demoiselle

The surrounding grazing marsh is alive with bird song, with skylarks being predominant.

Skylark

My species list for the walk is as follows:
sandwich tern 3, common tern 2, cettis warbler 4, sedge warbler 2, reed warbler 10, hobby 2, reed bunting 4, turtle dove 1, whitethroat 1, stonechat 1, pomarine skua 1 immature, holly blue 4, common blue 20, green-veined white 3, small white 4, small heath 3, four-spotted chaser 4, azure damselfly, blue-tailed damselfly, hairy dragonfly 1 and banded demoiselle 1. There was also plenty of evidence of water voles but I didn't see any.

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Longfield Moths

Ran my mv trap again last night and managed to draw in a handful of moths including some nice ones.

Common Wainscott


Buff Tip


Close up of the scales of Buff Tip

Flame Shoulder

Totals for the night were, 1 buff tip, 1 flame shoulder, 1 common wainscott, 1 pale oak beauty, 1 bright-line brown eye, 1 marbled minor/tawny marbled minor and 1 heart and dart.

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Longfield - Chalk Bank

I'm lucky to have this small KWT reserve almost on my doorstep although it is a shame to see how some of the locals treat it. It is home to a small plant called grey mouse-ear which whilst common and unthreatened in Europe only exists on 3 sites in the UK and only 1 in Kent, at Longfield. For me, the problem is that common mouse-ear also occurs on the reserve and the two are very alike, making identification tricky. Flowering in early May, i'll now have to wait until next year to have another go at seeing it.



Whilst overcast this morning it was warm and a few beasties were around, including a few day flying moth species one of which I was able to identify as burnet companion.

Burnet Companion

I have also managed to see slow worm here on a few occasions and luckily a female today. Females have these dark lines down the length of their bodies.

Slow Worm (female)

I then noticed this resting female common blue butterfly.

Common Blue (female)

A few birds around too with 2 blackcaps, 2 green woodpeckers, 1 great spotted woodpecker and 2 chiffchaffs.

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Longfield

Hedgehog Rescue. This evening whilst parking up the car I noticed a hedgehog curled up in the road a few houses down. Fearing the worst I went to have a look but it had started to wander across the road so I wrapped it up in my raincoat and then put it in my back garden giving it a feed of cat food.

Hedgehog

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Hockley

I'd been told about a site where there were good numbers of white helleborines in flower so as I was in the area I decided to take a look. This area of narrow country lanes looked fantastic and amongst a stand of sycamores was a group of beech trees and below these the helleborines. Late afternoon, little breeze and dappled sunlight through the canopy.

White Helleborine

On the roadside verge I noticed this large snail, certainly the largest snail I have seen in the UK. I've identified it as Helix pomatia the roman snail or edible snail. It is now protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, due to its numbers suffering serious decline. This is a big snail, as the penny hopefully helps to indicate.

Helix pomatia

Just by the car there was a set aside field and within it was this lovely brown hare just catching a few rays.

Brown Hare

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