A scattering of pink-flowered Cuckooflowers on the edge of a small stream that runs in the bottom of a steep-sided, wooded valley.
Cuckooflower Cardamine pratensis in ghyll woodland (a wooded, steep-sided, stream-cut valley) in the Kent High Weald. #wildflowerhour #WoodlandPlants #KentNature #HighWeald
... this was at Robin's Wood SSSI yesterday, where Field Club members Stephen Lemon was also able to find Shining Hookeria moss Hookeria lucens & Dwarf Flapwort Jungermannia pumila (a leafy liverwort) - both last recorded here 75 years ago! #KentNature #HighWeald #Bryophytes #Ferns
An afternoon walk at Eastling, Faversham following the Shepherd Neame pub walk. A calling Coal Tit in the church yard was the highlight. 18 sp recorded. Few butterflies & bee’s about although plenty of mining bee evidence. At least 30 Early Purple Orchids in flower. #kentbirding #kentnature
A bleached snail shell next to a millimetre ruler for scale. Top view.
A bleached snail shell next to a millimetre ruler for scale. Bottom view, showing the very wide umbilicus.
A bleached snail shell next to a millimetre ruler for scale. Side view.
What must surely be Heath Snail Helicella itala. Found around 70cm beneath the ground in an archeological test pit in grassland behind our house. How long was it lying there? #molluscs #snails #KentNature
It's Dour* and grey** in Dover.
*The river Dour. (Actually pronounced "Do-er")
**Grey Herons in the murals, Grey Wagtails in the back gardens. Fine chalk stream #UrbanBirding.
#KentNature
Visited the Buckland Yew.
The yew was already c. 1,600 years old when, in 1880, it was saved by public outcry and 'wheeled' to a new position within St Andrew's churchyard when the church nave was extended. (story/ illustration p2 www.ancient-yew.org/userfiles/fi...)
#KentNature
Female Hairy-footed Flower Bee and Cherry Blossom.
Hairy-footed Flower Bee on Cherry Tree Blossom.
Hairy-footed Flower Bees enjoying the Cherry Blossom in the garden this afternoon. #ukwildlife #kentnature #bees
Rhyzobius forestieri - my first micro-ladybird. Found at East Malling today by @sejarnold.bsky.social @kentfieldclub.bsky.social @ukladybirds.bsky.social #KentNature
Little sleep last night so, out in time to watch the Med Gulls coming off their estuary roost. Some drop into nearby fields, others move s. inland, to Downland fields, mostly as singles or in pairs. Nos. will drop soon- coming to the end of staging here.
#Medway
#KentNature
Singing Blackbird.
Black-tailed Godwit .
Blackcap.
Chiffchaff.
A couple of hours at Riverside Country Park this morning, Dawn chorus is ramping up, Black-tailed Godwits getting their Summer finery and a few Warblers joining the chorus. #kentnature #kentbirding #RCPBirds
The bug Asiraca clavicornis on a leaf.
The beetle Cassida vibex, an oval-shaped, green beetle, on a fingertip.
Orange-tailed Mining Bee Andrena haemorrhoa, with orange-brown hair on the thorax, and an orange tip to the abdomen.
The Variable Nomad Bee Nomada to Ata, photographed through a microscope (then released).
Sun's out, insect net's out. A few bits from the garden this afternoon - the bug Asiraca clavicornis, the attractive little tortoise beetle Cassida vibex (new for garden), the Orange-tailed Mining Bee, and the Variable Nomad Bee. #bugs #beetles #bees #hemiptera #coleoptera #hymenoptera #KentNature
Nice sunny session on the allotment this morning, with a Firecrest singing from this nearby tree. #KentNature #KentBirding
A green field of short-cropped grass, with woodland in the background. A Cowslip with two or three open flowers is to the left of the foreground. A few other Cowslioscan be seen (out of focus) further away to the right.
Cowslip starting to bloom in cattle pasture on the #KentDowns, on Good Friday. #wildflowerhour #CowslipChallenge #KentNature
The Marsh Frogs at Dungeness have realised Spring has arrived - just... As soon as the sun appears so did these vocal #amphibians #KentNature
Fleshy, pale pink flowerheads of Toothwort, with Bluebell leaves and Dog's Mercury, and with Hazel stems behind.
A feathery leaf of Pignut amongst other woodland floor vegetation.
Two rosettes of Common Twayblade amongst Ivy, Dog's Mercury and flytipped rubbish.
A glass of Harvey's Best Bitter on a table alongside a pair of binoculars on a table inside the Ringlestone Inn.
Long Easter walk up the road to the excellent Ringlestone Inn. Toothwort in woods and hedges, Pignut starting to appear, & Common Twayblade amongst the inevitable flytipping. Plus Yellowhammer, Brown Hare, Red Kite en route. And a top-class pint of Harvey's Best! #KentNature
A view of an area of grassland and scrub, with a wooden fence in the foreground and conference trees at the back.
A closer view of the grassland, showing patches of bare ground and an incited track with steep banks.
A bare, sandy bank in the foreground, with grassland behind, and confers on the skyline.
Made a recce visit today to Forge Field at Leeds Castle, ahead of leading a @kentfieldclub.bsky.social meeting there next month. Sandy soil, open grassland, and lots of sunny banks. Looks very promising! #KentNature
For #KentNature followers, John Stevens Henslow, who kick-started Darwin' career, was originally from Rochester.
A new Atlas of Kent's Shieldbugs and Allies is a project being supported by Kent Field Club, and driven by a group of Field Club members. More info on our website - www.kentfieldclub.org.uk/projects/shi.... #KentNature #Bugs #Hemiptera @britishbugs.bsky.social
White flowers of Wild Cherry, on a slender branch which also bears some reddish, young leaves. Behind is the broad, brown trunk of a neighbouring Wild Cherry tree.
Wild Cherry in flower this week in a sunny woodland on the Kent Downs. You'll just have to imagine the accompanying birdsong. #treeflowers #wildflowerhour #KentNature @wildflowerhour.bsky.social
2 Ravens heading South over Chatham, never thought i'd be saying that a few yrs ago.. #kentbirding #kentnature
A leisurely 6:15 start for the first Milton Creek bird survey on a cold frosty morning. 42 sp seen or heard with 7 Song Thrushes (rare birds there) & a late Fieldfare the highlights. 2 Blackcaps heard calling were year ticks. At least 25 Dunnock recorded. #kentbirding #kentnature
Can @lesserspotnet.bsky.social or others say whether this is definitely a Lesser Spot drumming? Heard only a in a couple of short bursts, and no bird seen. And it's a long time since I've encountered one! Sound file has been amplified. #KentBirding #KentNature
