For #UKFungusDay, a small selection of the fungi seen on our field meeting today in Wichling Wood on the North Kent Downs. Names in alt-text. #fungi #fungus #mushrooms @britmycolsoc.org.uk

Just 2 weeks till the 2026 Kent Wildlife Conference. So, don't delay - book today! We'll be welcoming @graemelyons.bsky.social, plus other speakers from @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social, @bsbibotany.bsky.social, @kentwildlife.bsky.social and more! www.kentfieldclub.org.uk/programme/up...

And finally, from Paddock Wood last Thursday, the 'four Rs', Rhyzobius litura (Meadow Ladybird), R. chrysomeloides (Arboreal Ladybird), R. lophanthae (Bristly Ladybird) and R. forestieri (Forestier's Ladybird) #Coccinellidae #Kent #MicroLadybird

Also from Paddock Wood last Thursday, more of the same!! Scymnus suturalis (Conifer Ladybird), S. interruptus (Red-flanked Ladybird), Stethorus pusillus (Dot Ladybird), and Nephus quadrimaculatus (Ivy Ladybird) #Coccinellidae #Kent #MicroLadybird

Final recording day on Thursday last week in Paddock Wood, finding 20 Myrrha octodecimguttata (18-spot Ladybird)! Most I've ever had in one day! Also a few Chilocorus bipustulatus (Heather Ladybird) new for my #LadybirdYearList (only had them in France previously this year!) #Coccinellidae #Kent

And finally, from Gravesend in Kent last Monday, Scymnus interruptus (Red-flanked Ladybird) and Coccidula scutellata (Spotted Marsh Ladybird), with the latter being new for my #LadybirdYearList 3 of 3 #Coccinellidae #Kent #MicroLadybird

Also from Gravesend in Kent last Monday were Scymnus auritus (Oak Ladybird), Rhyzobius chrysomeloides (Arboreal Ladybird), Rhyzobius litura (Meadow Ladybird), and Nephus quadrimaculatus (Ivy Ladybird) 2 of 3 #Coccinellidae #Kent #MicroLadybird

A good day in Gravesend in Kent last Monday, finding Scymnus suturalis (Conifer Ladybird), Stethotus pusillus (Dot Ladybird), Rhyzobius lophanthae (Bristly Ladybird), and Rhyzobius forestieri (Forestier's Ladybird) 1 of 3 #Coccinellidae #Kent #MicroLadybird

Some woodland-floor life from our recent field meeting at Great Spelty Wood on the dip-slope of the #KentDowns. Names in alt text. Highlight the very rare fungus Limacella ochraceolutea, found by Mario Tortelli. #KentNature #fungi #MushroomMonday

Fungus field meetings now well under way. A few finds from our recent meeting at Pilots Wood & Polhill Bank in the west of the county: Larch Bolete, Suillus grevillei; Magpie Inkcap, Coprinopsis picacea; & caterpillar of Green Silver-lines moth, Pseudoips prasinana. #fungus #fungi #moths #KentNature

September across the wider Dungeness recording area had 10 new species for the year with the obvious highlight the Brown Booby Western Bonelli’s Warbler, American Golden Plover, Pec Sandpiper, Red-backed Shrike, Grey Phalarope etc The 2026 total is on 237 which surpasses any of the last 7 years

Hornet Robberfly at St. Margaret's Bay, SE Kent, today (26th Sept).

New to me. Since its British discovery in East Anglia in 1997, Sphragisticus nebulous seems to have started to spread widely. Loads near Rochester, Kent, a couple of weeks ago.

Large flock (17+) of Long-finned Pilot Whales on the River Thames, viewed from Gravesend, this evening. First I've seen in UK waters this century. Last image shows one animal frequently on its side...fingers crossed for it. BDMLR are aware. #kentnature @kentfieldclub.bsky.social #cetaceans

Some plants and a fungus from our field meeting at Hever Castle last weekend. Cowbane, Lesser Skullcap and Trifid Bur-marigold from round the lake, plus Dyer's Mazegill under a conifer. Cowbane not really a Kent plant, but well established around the lake edges ...

Some insects from our field meeting at Hever Castle last weekend. Juniper Shieldbug & nymph, Parent Bug, and the picture-winged fly Dioxyna bidentis. #KentNature. #bugs #Shieldbugs #Hemiptera #Diptera

To celebrate bird migration to and from the county, the KOS & partners are holding a day of birdwatching, ringing & recording on 27th of Sept. Please join us at one of 3 participating sites. See kentos.org.uk/index.php/even… for details & instructions of how to sign up where relevant.

Hardly a day of rain this summer, but we hit this one with our field meeting at Crow Plain Farm in the Low Weald. But still managed a few insect records, including Mottled Shieldbug, Birch Shieldbug, and the Rhopalid bug Stictopleurus abutilon. #KentNature #bugs #Hemiptera

This afternoon, we came across this Goat moth caterpillar on the North Downs Way, near Hucking, Kent. #kentnature #moths #kentmoths

Spotted Flycatcher in Bedgebury Pinetum @kentishplover.bsky.social @kentwildlife.bsky.social @kentfieldclub.bsky.social #Bedgebury #birds

A promising sign from a restored peatland in Kent 💧 The River Stour (Kent) IDB and partners have been restoring peatland habitats. Since then, beavers have been helping to keep the peatland wet through this prolonged dry period, while creating new and varied wetland habitats. 1/3

Our Saturday meeting ought to have been destroyed by drought, but instead the 4ha Forge Field site (part of Leeds Castle Estate) kept 6 naturalists busy for 4 hours, turning up a range of interesting insects and plants. There's so little acid grassland left in Kent, & it needs more love! #KentNature

We thought the acid grassland at Forge Field nr Leeds Castle would be shrivelled-up for our field meeting yesterday. Well, it was dry but very far from lifeless, with Harebell, Tormentil, insects inc. Liorhyssus hyalinus (pictured), Pantaloon Bee, Red-banded Sand-wasp, & much more. #KentNature

Well a visit to the beach for some Sandwich Tern ring reading turned up the goods with seemingly Britain's fourth Verge Cricket! It was flushed off the shingle and after a quick jump on top of it before it buried itself, it was swiftly in a pot! Four Sandwich Tern rings were read also...

For anyone and everyone with an interest in biodiversity in and around Kent - tinyurl.com/WildConf2026. We love our social media chums, but it's great to get together IRL. Book your place today!

Fig Leaf Skeletoniser was new for the year this morning. Boughton-under-Blean #teammoth

Dry, hot and sunny for our meeting at @kentwildlife.bsky.social's new Ironhurst Valley Nature Reserve last Saturday. The reserve straddles the boundary between Watsonian West Kent and East Sussex, marked in places just by a small ditch and crossed by a tiny bridge.

Three of the six Blue-winged Grasshoppers found at Reculver (North Kent coast) on 25th July.

Highlight of our field meeting last weekend near Deal - this nymph of the shieldbug Arma custos, swept by Laurence Clemons. A species found new to the UK in 2024 by Simon Warry, and this nymph confirms that it's now breeding here. #UKBugs #Shieldbugs @britishbugs.bsky.social @rockwolf74.bsky.social

Around the cornfield edges on chalk at #St.Margarets, keeping my eyes peeled for the scarce #arableplant Venus-looking glass,kept company by at least four widely scattered "singing"Quail.No luck with that #plant, but did find others inc; Dwarf Spurge,Narrow fruited Cornsalad,Dense fl;Fumitory.