In the ten years that we have lived in East Kent, more and more south-facing slopes have been planted up with vines as wine production in the area has blossomed. These days there are more than fifty commercial vineyards in Kent and, with similar soils to the Champagne region in France, it is sparkling wines using the traditional méthode champenoise that they are particularly known for. Two of our children are very interested in wine and have just passed their Wine and Spirit Education Trust level 3 exams. They were staying with us over Easter, so we all visited Gusbourne near Romney Marsh for a wine tasting and vineyard tour.

Spring frosts that would damage the fresh new buds are a worry at this time of year and the vineyard has some of these frost protection fans, imported from the Napa Valley in California:

Lots of pots were hanging from the hedgerow around the vines. These are apparently to monitor the levels of the Suzuki fly in the area:

The Suzuki fly, Drosophila suzukii, is a native of SE Asia but is now established in Britain and poses a significant threat for our soft fruit growers including vineyards. In contrast to other Drosophila species that only infest rotting fruit, this fly lays her eggs into the ripening grape using her saw-like ovipositor to get in under the skin. The fly larvae then develop within the grape, ruining it for winemaking.

It was interesting to learn that the vines will generally be planted on south-facing slopes with the rows orientated north-south so that they don’t shade each other. When the individual plants are pruned, a single shoot is left, also reaching towards the south if possible. Often this single stem will be on a ‘watershoot’ coming directly up from the roots as in the photo below. When the main rootstock eventually gets old and needs replacing, it is cut away leaving the watershoot as the stem.

Gusbourne is a relatively new Kent vineyard since the first vines were only planted in 2004. But their wines are already highly acclaimed, often winning awards, and we very much enjoyed tasting them.

Back in the meadows, we are pleased that the badger cub is being brought straight up into the meadows rather than onto the cliff, because this is giving us some unimpeded views of the sweet little thing:

The cub is not yet allowed up for long and stays close to its mother:

She is not bringing it to the peanuts with the other adult badgers at the moment:

There are three adult badgers living in the meadows, the original parents and one of last years cubs:

This is a ridiculous photo of two of them lounging around whilst still eating the peanuts:

We have now discovered a second fox family, this one somewhere on the densely vegetated cliff:

There has been a lot of food being taken in. Whilst most of it is unidentifiable, I can see that this is a fish:

And this is surely a rat:

And we have had early sightings of one of the little cubs of this family:

Another mammal being frequently seen in the meadows at the moment is the weasel. I have been looking closely at this next photo in case there is evidence that this is a lactating female, because wouldn’t it be amazing to see weasel cubs?

The bird ringers have done two more sessions with the whoosh net in the meadows and are very pleased with the number of linnets they have caught.

Yellowhammers are also coming down to the seed at the whoosh net but so far have evaded being captured:

A redstart was on the trail cameras as well this week, no doubt newly arrived in the country and on its way inland to breed:

And this is our first common whitethroat of the year. Whitethroats do nest here and so I hope that this one will stay around:

Several starling are in the meadows at the moment and will also hopefully be nesting here. This bird is ringed as well:

As ever, sparrowhawks have been active in the meadows as evidenced by several piles of feathers. This one is taking a break from hunting to take a bath:

Nice to see a different kestrel here. This is a male with his grey head and the single, broad black stripe at the end of his tail. He has caught some prey although I’m not sure what that is:

The normal ringed female kestrel has been around as well. A photo of her from February shows how different her tail feathers are from that of the male:

The pair of mallards are still coming in for a very early morning swim whilst they are egg laying:

I carried out a rescue of a tawny mining bee trapped inside the house and took some quick photos before I released her:

Nice to properly see the three dots on the top of her head – these are her ocelli. They are simple eyes that can detect light and shadow, helping her to judge her direction relative to the sun and also to avoid predation:

A tawny mining bee nest like a mini volcano has appeared in the orchard:

There are a lot of celery flies, Euleia heraclei, around at the moment. They are amazing-looking little things:

These small things look like they have come straight out of a science fiction film:

There were several of these on some ivy leaves and I include a photo of a second one as well because it more clearly shows the shaving brush coming out of the end of the abdomen:

These nymphs will have developed into adult planthoppers by June:

We found a nest of brown-tip moth caterpillars in a hawthorn bush:

The brown-tip moth caterpillar is very impressive to look at but is covered in barbed hairs which will irritate human skin and means that most birds will leave them alone. However, cuckoos specialise in eating hairy caterpillars, including these brown-tips.

Green hairstreak butterflies have now appeared in the meadows. I am hoping that they will have a good year because we have seen so few here for the last two springs:

I was excited to see my first ever furrow bee on the sun-baked moat wall at Walmer Castle. I believe that this is the bronze furrow bee, Halictus tumulorum:

You can see the notch at the end of her abdomen that gives furrow bees their name:

In the wood, I think that I can now say that green woodpeckers are nesting in the same hole as last year. Perhaps it is the same pair but I cannot be sure:

I am looking forward to watching their progress as spring progresses.

In my experience it is a very rare occasion indeed for the wildlife here to perform as you want it to. Therefore, I was especially pleased when I managed to show our Easter visitors the enthralling spectacle of male smooth newts displaying to females in the pond.

The sun shone over Easter, the wind mostly stayed away and the fruit trees in the orchard were in glorious blossom, fit to stage the annual Easter egg hunt, which gets very competitive now that the children are adults. Our family is spread wide across the south of England and it’s so lovely to see them when they get the opportunity to travel to these outermost reaches of Kent.

As we approach the end of April, it shouldn’t be long now before swifts start arriving back in the UK to breed. As we wait with bated breath to see if our pair will make it back, my last photo for today is of the inside of the nest box where two swift chicks were successfully raised last year:

The box has come down from the wall this week for Dave to install a new and improved camera, but everything is now back in place and we are ready for them. I am keeping everything crossed for their safe return.