Alex Pastures / Orlestone forest environs: Small parties of Hawfinches appearing daily at the moment (first appeared 22/10). At Alexs feeding on Birch and Oak tips but predominantly on a bountiful crop of Sloes. 4 present today - long may they stay!

Back in June, Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers bred successfully rearing 2 young in the Orlestone forest area. Sad to hear that just 9 LSW were able to be monitored by the LesserSpot network. Sorry my news is late, at least it gets the survey up to ten pairs. @lesserspotnet

Something is going very, very wrong with woodland ride management by @ForestryEngland in East Kent. The last few days have seen miles of rides full of flowers in FC owned blocks of Orlestone Forest SSSI shorn down to billiard table length like this.

At Alex Pastures, Kent, these largish looking Furrow Bees have caught my eye. Looking at Steven's references, could they be Lasioglossum xanthopus / Orange footed Furrow Bee? @StevenFalk1

Now a regular June new event, 5 Southern Migrant Hawkers zig-zagging over the meadows at Alex Pastures. Hunting similar to the mid-summer Migrant Hawker, I’m wondering if they’ve found a new breeding niche, in the many silt-lined & muddy ponds that dot the Weald. @BDSdragonflies

Fresh, ginger male Long Horned Bees are back on the wing at Alex Farm Pastures. Once a rarity, their numbers now seem robust and increasing year on year - comfortably out numbering even Common Carders today. Here they are visiting Bugle and Bitter vetch.

A fairly uneventful day today, until I found this, my first Large Tortoiseshell. It patrolled a ride in Orlestone forest late into the afternoon. Here you can see it warming up it's wing muscles before a flight. Recent history here was 1 found nearly a year ago by @Chequertree1

6 Little Egrets in Shadoxhurst today. In the mid-2000's a reliable winter visitor to the fields behind our garden. In recent years, none at all. From todays experience, 1 change seems to be their tolerance of people - they stood unmoved as I slammed a shed door just 100ft away.

A mix of luck and slow-mo with the Pallid Harrier at Lydd, Kent this afternoon. Thanks for the trip Bernard!

Dungeness Point: 7-9 pm, aftermath of an y'day's wet and windy evening storm. C Terns 200 approx, 11 C Scoters, 15 Gannets, 1 Fulmar, 1 Whimbrel. All heading west, into the wind and sunset. @DungenessBO

At Alex Pastures, Kent, another successful breeding year for Nightingales. Territories were temporarily under water in early April. First fledglings were in late May and here is probably the last of this year's broods seen today.

On Walland Marsh last weekend, a distinctive looking melanistic Ruderal Bumblebee (Bombus ruderatus) foraging along a weedy field margin. At least that's what I think it is - I'm not an expert!

A female/immature Southern Migrant Hawker, near Shadoxhurst, today. Only my 2nd for the Orlestone forest area. Anyone else seeing them? @MarcHeathym007

A nice belated sea watch at Dungeness this evening: Difficult to separate Terns feeding off the point from those passing thro. 11 Black Terns (E), (inc 1 group of 5), 80 Kittiwakes (inc 1 group of 32), 3 Little Terns, 11 Sanderling, 7 R.Plovers many flocks of Common Terns.

Our ponds are visited in winter by G Wagtails, Teal, Mallard, Woodcock, Snipe, Kingfishers & Grey Heron. With Kent Wildlife Trust we continue to coppice blocks, keeping a cycle of prime Nightingale scrub both at AFP and adjacent KWT woodland. First 3 N'gales were singing today.

At Alex Farm Pastures, lack of summer water has meant no cattle grazing for the previous 2 out of 3 years. Consequently, we have now deepened our larger ponds, reclaimed and created others in the hope that we can provide water for cattle this summer.

Damming man-made channels allowing streams to naturally recourse, and creating ‘leaky dams’ has seen immediate returns in plants such as Ragged Robin, Water Mint, Gypsywort and various Water Dropworts. As a bonus, it has also created a wilder and more appealing landscape!

Here's a catch up on Alex Farm Pastures / Shadoxhurst Woodlands, primarily on water-related projects. A South East Rivers Trust project has been creating wetter woodlands and slowing the water flow in the Shadoxhurst River Beault headwaters. @woodlandbirder @SE_Rivers_Trust

In our Shadoxhurst Oak Woodland, Great Spotted Woodpeckers have been bringing in copious amounts of food to their fledglings. In the last 2 days I've seen 3 large dangly Caterpillars taken in. - Possibly one of the Underwings? @jjonesy0506 @Chequertree1

30 secs slow-mo of the WW Black Tern hawking insects at Rye harbour today.