Wednesday 18th. June 2014

After spending the weekend and Monday with a stinking cold , I decided that the best remedy was to get out and about yesterday . With the cloud forecasted to break up mid morning , I set off for deepest Kent , to search for the Norfolk Hawker . I arrived at Westbere Marshes at about 1000 , but there was no sign of any clearance and also a cool wind , not the conditions for Odonata . Regardless , I walked the ditch , searching for a roosting specimen , but to no avail . There was the odd moment of sun , but not enough to change the situation . By 1200 , still without a sighting , I decided to move on to East Blean Woods , to see if I could do any better with the Heath Fritillary butterfly . I remember arriving in the car park many years ago with the two 'old boys' I used to go out with , finding swarms of the butterfly as soon as we got out of the car , but that was not the case now . A lot of the area around the car park is now well overgrown , but I carried on looking , avoiding the Giant Hogweed , which wasn't there last time I visited . Eventually , I did find 7/8 , mainly worn specimens in the area , but

then went looking further afield . Not that far away , I found a recently cleared area with a reasonable amount of Common Cow-wheat , the food plant of the larvae of the species , having sprung up following the clearance . Still dull and windy , any Fritillaries there were more interested in

'hunkering down' , but every time the sun broke through , those present got on the wing for a short time . I probably found another 7/8 in this clearing , but nothing like those halcyon days of some time

ago . Returning to the car to get some lunch , the skies opened and the sun was searingly hot . I also got a call from fellow enthusiast Keith , at work , re. the Short Toed Eagle that had been inhabiting Ashdown Forest for a couple of days . He was considering going when he got home , and we decided to keep in touch and decide what to do late afternoon . Having recharge the batteries , I decided to return to Westbere , in the hope of doing better in the changed conditions . Still windy , I walked and re-walked the ditch , and eventually , I did see a Norfolk Hawker on the wing , but it did not stop , and with the amount of vegetation , it was impossible to follow . Reed Warblers in the surrounding area sang , unseen under the now almost cloudless skies , and Banded Demoiselle and an immature

Ruddy Darter kept the interest , but no further NH sighting .  Also frustrating me was a plant seen amongst the Phragmites , but the grey matter just couldn't recognise it . A search through the

books when I got home turned it up , Common Valerian / Valeriana officinalis , with it's unusual leaf structure , another species first seen with the 'old boys' many years ago .Deciding that the wind won , I made my way back to the car and decided to cut across country to Ashdown Forest  , mainly to find out if the bird was still there , and whether it would be worthwhile Keith coming down after work . The answer to the first part was obvious with the number of cars packed into the car park , and I learned later that there was another packed one over the other side of the site , an area the bird also frequented . Walking down the broad track the gathered birders were scanning the sky , I joined in but couldn't see anything until a chap with a scope felt sorry for me , and I got my first sighting of a Short Toed Eagle . It stayed high up , hanging on the wind for about 20 minutes , before stooping into the valley at just after 1600 . The birders who had been on site the previous two days reckoned that it had gone to roost , and the assembled group moved further down the hill towards an area of Pines , where the bird apparently roosted the previous two nights . While the bird was 'hanging high' , I took a few shots , the bird showing as a small dot in the middle of the viewfinder . When I got home , I

was pleased with a record shot , that at least showed some detail on the tail . Keith didn't manage to get off work early , and as |I returned home he was still talking of going down for a look , but decided against it . Hopefully the bird will remain till the weekend , when we'll give it another go .