Although there have been the odd warmer days, though sunny most of this year Kent has suffered from bitterly cold east winds and, from mid-February to 6th March, successive falls of heavy snow. Very sensibly all the butterflies decided to stay put and not venture out from hibernation. During the last 10 days it has become progressively warmer and seeing the first butterflies in the last two days has not come as a surprise.

The April weather was very changeable, but in the warmer spells several butterflies were seen on the wing, notably Small Tortoiseshells, Brimstones and Commas and several Peacocks. In the last two weeks an increasing number of Orange Tips, both male and female, have dominated the scene, with a sprinkling of Commas, Speckled Woods and, most recently, a few Holly Blues.

The month of May was extremely cold, with north-easterly winds much of the time and some late frosts. As a result, butterfly numbers generally were well below last year's figures, notably the Orange Tips that were around in some abundance during the equivalent period in 2004. Although a few warm days in the first week of June brought out a few new species, all spring butterflies seem to have suffered. As an indication of how dire things have been, this year it took until June before seeing a Small White, a butterfly normally around at the end of March and early April.

The return of hot weather during the second weekend in July has meant that the summer butterflies are around in some profusion, though later than normal. A survey carried out on 12 July recorded 23 Marbled Whites, 12 Commas, 3 Red Admirals, 8 Small Whites, 6 Green-veined Whites, 7 Large Whites and 2 Large Skippers. The main species on the wing are Small Skippers, of which several hundreds were seen, far too many to count, Meadow Browns (also in the hundreds) and Gatekeepers. What have yet to be seen at all are any signs of Painted Lady, Common Blue and Ringlets.

The purchase of a new Robinson moth trap was rewarded on the first night by finding a Scarce Merveille du Jour in it. This rare moth is known in Kent from around Ham Street (over 20 miles away) but is believed it is the first sighting this area. Another first (for me) was a Pine Hawk-moth. The trap is averaging over a dozen Elephant Hawk-moths every time it is run, though the most commonly found is the Dot Moth. Comparisons with previous years show that moth numbers are well down, and less species being encountered.

The current scene is that there are quite a few Red Admirals and Commas around still, together with the occasional Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell.

For moths this has been an amazing summer since the new trap was brought into use. Comparison with previous records (prior to 2001), show that some species regularly seen then are no longer around. By contrast, a large number of species are being encountered for the first time. The Scarce Merveille du Jour on the first night heralded a steady procession of new species for the area, some of them in the list of Kent notables (rare moths). Among these were Pine Hawk-moth, Clouded Magpie, Gold Spot, Nutmeg, Large Thorn and L-album Wainscot. It is not certain whether all these new moths are because the trap is more efficient than those used previously, or whether there is a sea-change in the moths in the surrounding area. Most intriguing of all was a white Pebbled Hook-tip, the scotia variant normally found only in Scotland. This was clearly seen and checked at the time against reference books but unfortunately had vanished by the morning, so no photographic proof is available.

Butterflies continued to be scarce throughout the autumn, just the occasional Comma, Brimstone and Red Admiral. Of these the Red Admirals proved to be the most persistent, the most recent being seen on 4th November.

A series of very warm nights until 10th September meant very large moths were around in fairly large numbers, with a peak of 629 (though most nights averaged 150-250). The change in the weather thereafter brought a rapid decline, but after a cold night in early October, numbers built up again during the following week to a peak on 7th October and then dropped away completely by the end of the month.

The run of completely new moth sightings has continued, the latest being a December Moth (the only one in the trap that night). The most spectacular was the Convolvulus Hawkmoth on 7th October. Although others have seen these in the locality it was the first I had ever seen. When publication of this sighting was publicised in the local paper, three other sightings in East Kent around the same time were reported to me, so presumably more than one of this scarce migrant arrived.

Moths also suffered. Compared with sightings records from 2000 numbers have been drastically reduced and some species common then have not been seen at all this year. Nevertheless some have been seen moths not recorded previously. A welcome return was the Eyed Hawkmoth on 14th May, only seen once before.

The week just prior to the Open Gardens was notable for the arrival of several Painted Lady butterflies, accompanied by other immigrants, Hummingbird Hawkmoths, seen on the red campion in my garden all week and some scarce species, among them the Bordered Straw.

Although butterfly numbers were slow in taking off, the same is not true for moths. By the end of May numbers daily totals for all species were around 25-30. After a somewhat shaky start (only 8 on 5 ^th June and 11 the following day), there was a rapid increase thereafter, to reach 85 by 12 ^th, 128 on 17 ^th, and 214 on 2^nd July. With the hot spell likely to continue and night temperatures usually approaching 60^oF (or more), July promises to be an exciting month.

The first Clouded Yellow butterfly for quite a few years put in an appearance on Friday, 21 July and was quickly followed by several others - the highest individual count since then being 12. On the downside, very few Marbled White have been seen, the highest count to date being only eight, a figure which must be compared with the high of over 80 just two years ago.

The Clouded Yellow butterflies were seen on most warm days right up to 12 September, but since the adjacent field of lucerne on which they had been feasting was harvested they have been completely absent. Generally speaking, most butterfly numbers have been down considerably this year, even the most common summer ones. Moths this year have included a large number of migrant species as well, resulting from the good weather on the continent.

The unseasonably warm weather during February to April meant that all the butterflies and moths seen were two weeks or more earlier than last year, though it should be remembered that the corresponding months up to May 2006 were much colder than normal, with lots of heavy frosts at times, some almost continuously. As a result the numbers of both butterflies and moths seen this year were higher than normal and the appearance of a few migrant species seemed to bode well. Alas, this was not to be, May and June turning out to be the wettest since records began, with heavy torrential rain every day (or, at least, it seemed as if that was the case). Even butterflies such as Orange Tips, which normally cope with variable weather in May, were much lower than normal. Once July arrived there was an instant change, though the main beneficiaries sees to have been Small White butterflies, which are to be seen everywhere. However, butterflies such as the Large Skipper, Marbled White and Gatekeeper appeared right on cue, at more or less the same time as they were seen last year, so it appears that nature's time clock is reverting to normal. The biggest surprise of all was seeing a White Admiral on 7th July, the first ever seen by me in Kingston (and the first I had seen for many years anywhere). No photograph, unfortunately, but very exciting. Another, or possibly the same one, was seen the following day, so it might be there is a colony establishing itself in the vicinity.