A varied day out in Kent with Barry Wright and Gary Howard. Highlights included 3 species of Skua, Whimbrel, Nightingale, Garden Warbler, Turtle dove, Red Kite, Hobby, Hairy Dragonfly and at least 6 stunning Downy Emeralds.

Visited one of the North Kent Lady orchid colonies - looking good in the damp conditions!

Also some decent waders at Dartford this morning with 13 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Grey Plovers, 20 Dunlins and 1 Avocet.

80 species today at Swanscombe and Stoke lagoon including 3 Kittiwakes, several Med gulls, Red Kite, Purple Heron, Cuckoo, Hobby and Whimbrel. Non avian highlights included Man orchid, Hairy dragonfly and Emperor moth. With Barry Wright.

Dropping boy 1 off at Uni so did a few sites on way home. 1000s of Pasque flowers at Therfield heath were quite the spectacle, and a few White Helleborines were in the nearby woods, though a while off from flowering.
At Rye Meads RSPB a pair of Garganeys were the highlights.

Lots of Early Spider orchids at Samphire Hoe this morning, including quite a bit of variation between plants. Then even more variety between plants at Marden meadow, this time with Green-winged orchids.

and the day starts with Lady orchid!

When I got home this evening a bonus Sparrowhawk was sat on the fence in the garden, rounding off an excellent day.

A great day out in the Ashdown Forest produced Redstart, Crossbill, Dartford warbler, Woodlark, Willow warbler, Garden warbler, Red Kite and Marsh tit - with Barry Wright and Gary Howard

Out early this morning at Samphire Hoe ! (Dover ) Still plenty of Early Spiders on show .....possibly not quite as many as last year ,but some beauties amongst them ,including this one . Also seen a single Adder ,and I swear I heard a Chough call. Wild Orchids UK & Ireland Samphire Hoe

Darenth woods, Dartford - once I got past the warning signs, burnt-out cars and discarded matresses I found a few in-bud Man orchids and 276 Early Purple orchids - and I didn't get shot!

Dark Sword-grass NFY Dartford VC16.

It was a pleasure to co-lead my first overseas tour for Mariposa Nature Tours earlier this month (please give us a follow, especially if you are into wildlife travel) where we focussed on the native #orchids of Rhodes. The guests we had were simply wonderful and the week was a roaring…

Another great day out in Kent with 7+ Wheatears, Ring Ouzel, Nightingale, Green Hairstreak, Hairy Dragonfly, Yellow wagtail, Anacamptis morio and Ferruginous duck amongst the highlights. With Barry Wright

Started at Shorne ranges, twitch to Beddington then finished at Swanscombe with Barry Wright. Highlights included Garganey, Willow warbler, Whinchat, Woodchat shrike, European paper wasp, Emperor moth and Common Lizard.

Swallow Prominent NFY Dartford VC16.

Back out looking for orchids in the UK this morning: Early Spider orchid the highlight with 1 plant in flower in North Kent and a variant Early Purple orchid.

A small selection of the many Ophrys bee orchid hybrids & varieties we saw during last week's #OrchidsOfRhodes tour. If you'd like to join us for the best #orchid tour to Rhodes next year, with the best chances of seeing such treasures, bookings are open:
mariposanature.com/tours/botanica…