Andy Appleton
@andyappleton.bsky.social
Birder, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
November 23, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Spring has sprung, although the Black-headed Gulls were standing on a thin layer of ice at Dunorlan Park first thing this morning.
#TunbridgeWells
#TunbridgeWells
November 22, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Spring has sprung, although the Black-headed Gulls were standing on a thin layer of ice at Dunorlan Park first thing this morning.
#TunbridgeWells
#TunbridgeWells
Dunorlan’ this morning:
I had it in mind that it was All Saints Day but some @rtwparkrun.bsky.social participants didn’t seem to be dressed accordingly 😲😳😃
I hope everyone enjoyed it, maybe the first muddy one of the season.
Birds: 38 species, triple Common Gull the highlight 🤷🏻♂️
#TunbridgeWells
I had it in mind that it was All Saints Day but some @rtwparkrun.bsky.social participants didn’t seem to be dressed accordingly 😲😳😃
I hope everyone enjoyed it, maybe the first muddy one of the season.
Birds: 38 species, triple Common Gull the highlight 🤷🏻♂️
#TunbridgeWells
November 1, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Dunorlan’ this morning:
I had it in mind that it was All Saints Day but some @rtwparkrun.bsky.social participants didn’t seem to be dressed accordingly 😲😳😃
I hope everyone enjoyed it, maybe the first muddy one of the season.
Birds: 38 species, triple Common Gull the highlight 🤷🏻♂️
#TunbridgeWells
I had it in mind that it was All Saints Day but some @rtwparkrun.bsky.social participants didn’t seem to be dressed accordingly 😲😳😃
I hope everyone enjoyed it, maybe the first muddy one of the season.
Birds: 38 species, triple Common Gull the highlight 🤷🏻♂️
#TunbridgeWells
40 species of birds on my wander around Dunorlan Park before work today including Common Gull again, 20+ over-flying Redpoll and my first Chiffchaff for a couple of weeks. A few more Blackbird and Redwing noted too.
#63 species for the month is probably a record - 19 visits.
#TunbridgeWells
#63 species for the month is probably a record - 19 visits.
#TunbridgeWells
October 31, 2025 at 8:42 AM
40 species of birds on my wander around Dunorlan Park before work today including Common Gull again, 20+ over-flying Redpoll and my first Chiffchaff for a couple of weeks. A few more Blackbird and Redwing noted too.
#63 species for the month is probably a record - 19 visits.
#TunbridgeWells
#63 species for the month is probably a record - 19 visits.
#TunbridgeWells
An adult Common Gull in Dunorlan Park this morning makes it a record-breaking gull total for patch with six species 😳 noted this month/year/ever). Yep, 6 - scope for improvement!
It also brings me to #63 for the month, 80% of my year to date total bird species.
#TunbridgeWells
It also brings me to #63 for the month, 80% of my year to date total bird species.
#TunbridgeWells
October 28, 2025 at 8:15 AM
An adult Common Gull in Dunorlan Park this morning makes it a record-breaking gull total for patch with six species 😳 noted this month/year/ever). Yep, 6 - scope for improvement!
It also brings me to #63 for the month, 80% of my year to date total bird species.
#TunbridgeWells
It also brings me to #63 for the month, 80% of my year to date total bird species.
#TunbridgeWells
A few bits and bobs in the last couple of visits to #DunorlanPark #TunbridgeWells including at least 31 Moorhens in the rain 🌧️ on Sunday afternoon 😃
59 species noted here so far this month…
59 species noted here so far this month…
October 21, 2025 at 6:44 PM
A few bits and bobs in the last couple of visits to #DunorlanPark #TunbridgeWells including at least 31 Moorhens in the rain 🌧️ on Sunday afternoon 😃
59 species noted here so far this month…
59 species noted here so far this month…
Good to be out again this morning with my first Fieldfares of the autumn, small numbers Redwings about, a few Redpoll over, a few Siskin (more yesterday), 20 Goldfinch and a little more unexpected a single Lapwing (a couple of fields away but that’ll do).
#DunorlanPark #TunbridgeWells #KentBirding
#DunorlanPark #TunbridgeWells #KentBirding
October 18, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Good to be out again this morning with my first Fieldfares of the autumn, small numbers Redwings about, a few Redpoll over, a few Siskin (more yesterday), 20 Goldfinch and a little more unexpected a single Lapwing (a couple of fields away but that’ll do).
#DunorlanPark #TunbridgeWells #KentBirding
#DunorlanPark #TunbridgeWells #KentBirding
Yep, Rhodes in April is rather brilliant 👍🏻 - so so much to see.
October 12, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Yep, Rhodes in April is rather brilliant 👍🏻 - so so much to see.
Meadow Pipits: 40 was a good count at Haysden y’day afternoon but I noted them at 4 of the 6 local sites I hit. 2 over the house this morning were overdue house ticks.
50 species at Whetsted GP’s, where there were two Great White Egrets, was the greatest total from any of yesterday’s wanderings.
50 species at Whetsted GP’s, where there were two Great White Egrets, was the greatest total from any of yesterday’s wanderings.
October 12, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Meadow Pipits: 40 was a good count at Haysden y’day afternoon but I noted them at 4 of the 6 local sites I hit. 2 over the house this morning were overdue house ticks.
50 species at Whetsted GP’s, where there were two Great White Egrets, was the greatest total from any of yesterday’s wanderings.
50 species at Whetsted GP’s, where there were two Great White Egrets, was the greatest total from any of yesterday’s wanderings.
Patch month tick: House Sparrow
Patch year tick: Linnet
Patch tick: Great Black-backed Gull no less! ✔️
I’m so pleased I wasn’t in Yorkshire today (no, okay, that sentence might not quite be truthful).
Dunorlan Park, #TunbridgeWells
Patch year tick: Linnet
Patch tick: Great Black-backed Gull no less! ✔️
I’m so pleased I wasn’t in Yorkshire today (no, okay, that sentence might not quite be truthful).
Dunorlan Park, #TunbridgeWells
October 10, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Patch month tick: House Sparrow
Patch year tick: Linnet
Patch tick: Great Black-backed Gull no less! ✔️
I’m so pleased I wasn’t in Yorkshire today (no, okay, that sentence might not quite be truthful).
Dunorlan Park, #TunbridgeWells
Patch year tick: Linnet
Patch tick: Great Black-backed Gull no less! ✔️
I’m so pleased I wasn’t in Yorkshire today (no, okay, that sentence might not quite be truthful).
Dunorlan Park, #TunbridgeWells
Redpoll over Dunorlan Park calling this morning was my first of the season (my first here since February in fact).
36 species in an hour made up primarily of the usual suspects including Grey Wagtail.
36 species in an hour made up primarily of the usual suspects including Grey Wagtail.
October 6, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Redpoll over Dunorlan Park calling this morning was my first of the season (my first here since February in fact).
36 species in an hour made up primarily of the usual suspects including Grey Wagtail.
36 species in an hour made up primarily of the usual suspects including Grey Wagtail.
Birdy wallpaper was noted in the toilet @scarthinbooks.bsky.social (superb, see an earlier post) & Chatsworth House.
Memories: visiting ‘no signal’ Dove Dale 20 years later: the day of the Acadian Flycatcher 😕 + passing Beeley where I clawed back Dusky Thrush!
A great week in the Peak District.
Memories: visiting ‘no signal’ Dove Dale 20 years later: the day of the Acadian Flycatcher 😕 + passing Beeley where I clawed back Dusky Thrush!
A great week in the Peak District.
September 29, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Birdy wallpaper was noted in the toilet @scarthinbooks.bsky.social (superb, see an earlier post) & Chatsworth House.
Memories: visiting ‘no signal’ Dove Dale 20 years later: the day of the Acadian Flycatcher 😕 + passing Beeley where I clawed back Dusky Thrush!
A great week in the Peak District.
Memories: visiting ‘no signal’ Dove Dale 20 years later: the day of the Acadian Flycatcher 😕 + passing Beeley where I clawed back Dusky Thrush!
A great week in the Peak District.
I raise you Spring
September 21, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I raise you Spring
Some unexpected birding in a bookshop toilet today 😀
September 20, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Some unexpected birding in a bookshop toilet today 😀
Oh, okay, across Britain and now I’m late!
I also couldn’t choose but what’s not to like about a Lady Orchid - it’s good in Kent and what a variety!
#WildflowerHour
I also couldn’t choose but what’s not to like about a Lady Orchid - it’s good in Kent and what a variety!
#WildflowerHour
September 14, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Oh, okay, across Britain and now I’m late!
I also couldn’t choose but what’s not to like about a Lady Orchid - it’s good in Kent and what a variety!
#WildflowerHour
I also couldn’t choose but what’s not to like about a Lady Orchid - it’s good in Kent and what a variety!
#WildflowerHour
A choice of birds to try to see in Kent today: 18 Glossy Ibis, Red-rumped Swallow, Red-backed Shrike, Red-footed Falcon, Black Guillemot, etc.
I decided to find my own birds instead but in a couple of miles of walking out from #TunbridgeWells this was the best I came across - they were distant!
🤷🏻♂️
I decided to find my own birds instead but in a couple of miles of walking out from #TunbridgeWells this was the best I came across - they were distant!
🤷🏻♂️
September 14, 2025 at 3:23 PM
A choice of birds to try to see in Kent today: 18 Glossy Ibis, Red-rumped Swallow, Red-backed Shrike, Red-footed Falcon, Black Guillemot, etc.
I decided to find my own birds instead but in a couple of miles of walking out from #TunbridgeWells this was the best I came across - they were distant!
🤷🏻♂️
I decided to find my own birds instead but in a couple of miles of walking out from #TunbridgeWells this was the best I came across - they were distant!
🤷🏻♂️
Whinchat and two Wheatear the highlight locally today, near Tudeley. 73 Cormorants at Pembury water works the definite low point. A few butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies also noted.
September 6, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Whinchat and two Wheatear the highlight locally today, near Tudeley. 73 Cormorants at Pembury water works the definite low point. A few butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies also noted.
An evening wander around Dunorlan Park produced 32 species including a smart juvenile Whitethroat (my third here this year)…
…and a moon which, in reality, was probably larger than the tree it hugged.
A couple of House Martins - noteworthy these days. Firecrest was more expected.
#TunbridgeWells
…and a moon which, in reality, was probably larger than the tree it hugged.
A couple of House Martins - noteworthy these days. Firecrest was more expected.
#TunbridgeWells
September 5, 2025 at 6:42 PM
An evening wander around Dunorlan Park produced 32 species including a smart juvenile Whitethroat (my third here this year)…
…and a moon which, in reality, was probably larger than the tree it hugged.
A couple of House Martins - noteworthy these days. Firecrest was more expected.
#TunbridgeWells
…and a moon which, in reality, was probably larger than the tree it hugged.
A couple of House Martins - noteworthy these days. Firecrest was more expected.
#TunbridgeWells
Two full days socialising provided good food, Little Stints, Curlew Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Spoonbills, Cattle Egrets, a rather cute 😢😲 Polish Mute Swan and some rather pleasant moths - thank you to all involved.
August 23, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Two full days socialising provided good food, Little Stints, Curlew Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Spoonbills, Cattle Egrets, a rather cute 😢😲 Polish Mute Swan and some rather pleasant moths - thank you to all involved.
Fan-tailed Warbler (aka Zit’) showed well but made us wait a bit this morning.
Also: 50+ Yellow Wagtails mostly east and several Whinchat dotted about plus Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Ravens, etc.
3+ Cattle Egret Cooks Pool
Next up: Minsmere was quiet: 2 Spotted Redshank the best but cakes still rock.
Also: 50+ Yellow Wagtails mostly east and several Whinchat dotted about plus Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Ravens, etc.
3+ Cattle Egret Cooks Pool
Next up: Minsmere was quiet: 2 Spotted Redshank the best but cakes still rock.
August 20, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Fan-tailed Warbler (aka Zit’) showed well but made us wait a bit this morning.
Also: 50+ Yellow Wagtails mostly east and several Whinchat dotted about plus Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Ravens, etc.
3+ Cattle Egret Cooks Pool
Next up: Minsmere was quiet: 2 Spotted Redshank the best but cakes still rock.
Also: 50+ Yellow Wagtails mostly east and several Whinchat dotted about plus Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Ravens, etc.
3+ Cattle Egret Cooks Pool
Next up: Minsmere was quiet: 2 Spotted Redshank the best but cakes still rock.
A large bit of tree came down this morning as I approached it with some impressive and pretty loud ripping noises as it did so! It kindly neatly avoided the paths I use.
August 18, 2025 at 7:04 AM
A large bit of tree came down this morning as I approached it with some impressive and pretty loud ripping noises as it did so! It kindly neatly avoided the paths I use.
92 minutes in Dunorlan Park got me 42 species including a surprise Yellowhammer. Grey Wag, Firecrest, Willow Wbr, Garden Wbr (record count of 2), Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Blackcaps and probably 40 Chiffchaff were the most noteworthy.
No raptors and no Goldfinch today.
#KentBirding
#TunbridgeWells
No raptors and no Goldfinch today.
#KentBirding
#TunbridgeWells
August 15, 2025 at 6:53 AM
92 minutes in Dunorlan Park got me 42 species including a surprise Yellowhammer. Grey Wag, Firecrest, Willow Wbr, Garden Wbr (record count of 2), Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Blackcaps and probably 40 Chiffchaff were the most noteworthy.
No raptors and no Goldfinch today.
#KentBirding
#TunbridgeWells
No raptors and no Goldfinch today.
#KentBirding
#TunbridgeWells
Just 16 species in 53 minutes this evening in/from Dunorlan Park including Peregrine bringing me to 50 species in 6 visits in August.
This compares to 48 species in 14 visits in the whole of July.
I may have seen more today if I had arrived before most birds had gone to roost.
This compares to 48 species in 14 visits in the whole of July.
I may have seen more today if I had arrived before most birds had gone to roost.
August 13, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Just 16 species in 53 minutes this evening in/from Dunorlan Park including Peregrine bringing me to 50 species in 6 visits in August.
This compares to 48 species in 14 visits in the whole of July.
I may have seen more today if I had arrived before most birds had gone to roost.
This compares to 48 species in 14 visits in the whole of July.
I may have seen more today if I had arrived before most birds had gone to roost.
Clearing the garage = tip trip. The best I could find however was a pretty mank Herring Gull.
A short visit to the local water works produced the usual Little Grebe & Grey Wagtails plus a few more Chiffchaff than usual.
Other wildlife included a Hummingbird Hawk-moth (and Southern Hawker).
A short visit to the local water works produced the usual Little Grebe & Grey Wagtails plus a few more Chiffchaff than usual.
Other wildlife included a Hummingbird Hawk-moth (and Southern Hawker).
August 9, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Clearing the garage = tip trip. The best I could find however was a pretty mank Herring Gull.
A short visit to the local water works produced the usual Little Grebe & Grey Wagtails plus a few more Chiffchaff than usual.
Other wildlife included a Hummingbird Hawk-moth (and Southern Hawker).
A short visit to the local water works produced the usual Little Grebe & Grey Wagtails plus a few more Chiffchaff than usual.
Other wildlife included a Hummingbird Hawk-moth (and Southern Hawker).