diff --git a/pkg/chunk/aws/storage_client.go b/pkg/chunk/aws/storage_client.go
index 22839ca5de..1c8138931d 100644
--- a/pkg/chunk/aws/storage_client.go
+++ b/pkg/chunk/aws/storage_client.go
@@ -188,6 +188,24 @@ func (a storageClient) NewWriteBatch() chunk.WriteBatch {
 	return dynamoDBWriteBatch(map[string][]*dynamodb.WriteRequest{})
 }
 
+func logRetry(unprocessed dynamoDBWriteBatch) {
+	for table, reqs := range unprocessed {
+		for _, req := range reqs {
+			item := req.PutRequest.Item
+			var hash, rnge string
+			if hashAttr, ok := item[hashKey]; ok {
+				if hashAttr.S != nil {
+					hash = *hashAttr.S
+				}
+			}
+			if rangeAttr, ok := item[rangeKey]; ok {
+				rnge = string(rangeAttr.B)
+			}
+			util.Event().Log("msg", "store retry", "table", table, "hashKey", hash, "rangeKey", rnge)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // BatchWrite writes requests to the underlying storage, handling retries and backoff.
 // Structure is identical to getDynamoDBChunks(), but operating on different datatypes
 // so cannot share implementation.  If you fix a bug here fix it there too.
@@ -228,6 +246,7 @@ func (a storageClient) BatchWrite(ctx context.Context, input chunk.WriteBatch) e
 			// If we get provisionedThroughputExceededException, then no items were processed,
 			// so back off and retry all.
 			if awsErr, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok && ((awsErr.Code() == dynamodb.ErrCodeProvisionedThroughputExceededException) || request.Retryable()) {
+				logRetry(requests)
 				unprocessed.TakeReqs(requests, -1)
 				backoff.Wait()
 				continue
@@ -239,6 +258,7 @@ func (a storageClient) BatchWrite(ctx context.Context, input chunk.WriteBatch) e
 
 		// If there are unprocessed items, backoff and retry those items.
 		if unprocessedItems := resp.UnprocessedItems; unprocessedItems != nil && dynamoDBWriteBatch(unprocessedItems).Len() > 0 {
+			logRetry(dynamoDBWriteBatch(unprocessedItems))
 			unprocessed.TakeReqs(unprocessedItems, -1)
 			// I am unclear why we don't count here; perhaps the idea is
 			// that while we are making _some_ progress we should carry on.
@@ -250,9 +270,6 @@ func (a storageClient) BatchWrite(ctx context.Context, input chunk.WriteBatch) e
 	}
 
 	if valuesLeft := outstanding.Len() + unprocessed.Len(); valuesLeft > 0 {
-		if valuesLeft < 4 { // protect against logging lots of data
-			level.Info(util.Logger).Log("msg", "DynamoDB BatchWrite values left", "count", valuesLeft, "outstanding", outstanding, "unprocessed", unprocessed)
-		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to write chunk, %d values remaining: %s", valuesLeft, backoff.Err())
 	}
 	return backoff.Err()
@@ -800,30 +817,6 @@ func (b dynamoDBWriteBatch) TakeReqs(from dynamoDBWriteBatch, max int) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (b dynamoDBWriteBatch) String() string {
-	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
-	for table, reqs := range b {
-		for _, req := range reqs {
-			item := req.PutRequest.Item
-			hash := ""
-			if hashAttr, ok := item[hashKey]; ok {
-				if hashAttr.S != nil {
-					hash = *hashAttr.S
-				}
-			}
-			var rnge, value []byte
-			if rangeAttr, ok := item[rangeKey]; ok {
-				rnge = rangeAttr.B
-			}
-			if valueAttr, ok := item[valueKey]; ok {
-				value = valueAttr.B
-			}
-			fmt.Fprintf(buf, "%s: %s,%.32s,%.32s; ", table, hash, rnge, value)
-		}
-	}
-	return buf.String()
-}
-
 // map key is table name
 type dynamoDBReadRequest map[string]*dynamodb.KeysAndAttributes
 
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/ingester_flush.go b/pkg/ingester/ingester_flush.go
index 640041a566..0f34d9b08d 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/ingester_flush.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/ingester_flush.go
@@ -82,8 +82,9 @@ func (i *Ingester) sweepSeries(userID string, fp model.Fingerprint, series *memo
 
 	if flush != noFlush {
 		flushQueueIndex := int(uint64(fp) % uint64(i.cfg.ConcurrentFlushes))
-		util.Event().Log("msg", "add to flush queue", "userID", userID, "reason", flush, "firstTime", firstTime, "fp", fp, "series", series.metric)
-		i.flushQueues[flushQueueIndex].Enqueue(&flushOp{firstTime, userID, fp, immediate})
+		if i.flushQueues[flushQueueIndex].Enqueue(&flushOp{firstTime, userID, fp, immediate}) {
+			util.Event().Log("msg", "add to flush queue", "userID", userID, "reason", flush, "firstTime", firstTime, "fp", fp, "series", series.metric, "queue", flushQueueIndex)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ func (i *Ingester) flushLoop(j int) {
 		}
 		op := o.(*flushOp)
 
-		err := i.flushUserSeries(op.userID, op.fp, op.immediate)
+		err := i.flushUserSeries(j, op.userID, op.fp, op.immediate)
 		if err != nil {
 			level.Error(util.WithUserID(op.userID, util.Logger)).Log("msg", "failed to flush user", "err", err)
 		}
@@ -145,7 +146,7 @@ func (i *Ingester) flushLoop(j int) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (i *Ingester) flushUserSeries(userID string, fp model.Fingerprint, immediate bool) error {
+func (i *Ingester) flushUserSeries(flushQueueIndex int, userID string, fp model.Fingerprint, immediate bool) error {
 	if i.preFlushUserSeries != nil {
 		i.preFlushUserSeries()
 	}
@@ -185,10 +186,9 @@ func (i *Ingester) flushUserSeries(userID string, fp model.Fingerprint, immediat
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, i.cfg.FlushOpTimeout)
 	defer cancel() // releases resources if slowOperation completes before timeout elapses
 
-	util.Event().Log("msg", "flush chunks", "userID", userID, "reason", reason, "numChunks", len(chunks), "firstTime", chunks[0].FirstTime, "fp", fp, "series", series.metric)
+	util.Event().Log("msg", "flush chunks", "userID", userID, "reason", reason, "numChunks", len(chunks), "firstTime", chunks[0].FirstTime, "fp", fp, "series", series.metric, "queue", flushQueueIndex)
 	err := i.flushChunks(ctx, fp, series.metric, chunks)
 	if err != nil {
-		util.Event().Log("msg", "flush error", "userID", userID, "err", err, "fp", fp, "series", series.metric)
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -220,8 +220,10 @@ func (i *Ingester) flushChunks(ctx context.Context, fp model.Fingerprint, metric
 
 	// Record statistsics only when actual put request did not return error.
 	for _, chunkDesc := range chunkDescs {
-		i.chunkUtilization.Observe(chunkDesc.C.Utilization())
-		i.chunkLength.Observe(float64(chunkDesc.C.Len()))
+		utilization, length := chunkDesc.C.Utilization(), chunkDesc.C.Len()
+		util.Event().Log("msg", "chunk flushed", "userID", userID, "fp", fp, "series", metric, "utilization", utilization, "length", length, "firstTime", chunkDesc.FirstTime, "lastTime", chunkDesc.LastTime)
+		i.chunkUtilization.Observe(utilization)
+		i.chunkLength.Observe(float64(length))
 		i.chunkAge.Observe(model.Now().Sub(chunkDesc.FirstTime).Seconds())
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/series.go b/pkg/ingester/series.go
index eff775af7d..ce53083a83 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/series.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/series.go
@@ -12,12 +12,18 @@ import (
 	"github.com/weaveworks/cortex/pkg/prom1/storage/metric"
 )
 
-var discardedSamples = prometheus.NewCounterVec(
-	prometheus.CounterOpts{
-		Name: "cortex_ingester_out_of_order_samples_total",
-		Help: "The total number of samples that were discarded because their timestamps were at or before the last received sample for a series.",
-	},
-	[]string{discardReasonLabel},
+var (
+	discardedSamples = prometheus.NewCounterVec(
+		prometheus.CounterOpts{
+			Name: "cortex_ingester_out_of_order_samples_total",
+			Help: "The total number of samples that were discarded because their timestamps were at or before the last received sample for a series.",
+		},
+		[]string{discardReasonLabel},
+	)
+	createdChunks = prometheus.NewCounter(prometheus.CounterOpts{
+		Name: "cortex_ingester_chunks_created_total",
+		Help: "The total number of chunks the ingester has created.",
+	})
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -77,6 +83,7 @@ func (s *memorySeries) add(v model.SamplePair) error {
 		newHead := newDesc(chunk.New(), v.Timestamp, v.Timestamp)
 		s.chunkDescs = append(s.chunkDescs, newHead)
 		s.headChunkClosed = false
+		createdChunks.Inc()
 	}
 
 	chunks, err := s.head().add(v)
@@ -97,6 +104,7 @@ func (s *memorySeries) add(v model.SamplePair) error {
 				return err
 			}
 			s.chunkDescs = append(s.chunkDescs, newDesc(c, c.FirstTime(), lastTime))
+			createdChunks.Inc()
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/user_state.go b/pkg/ingester/user_state.go
index 6e20315df8..ba9cbd2a59 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/user_state.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/user_state.go
@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ func (u *userState) unlockedGet(metric model.Metric, cfg *UserStatesConfig) (mod
 		return fp, nil, httpgrpc.Errorf(http.StatusTooManyRequests, "per-metric series limit (%d) exceeded for %s: %s", cfg.MaxSeriesPerMetric, metricName, metric)
 	}
 
+	util.Event().Log("msg", "new series", "userID", u.userID, "fp", fp, "series", metric)
 	series = newMemorySeries(metric)
 	u.fpToSeries.put(fp, series)
 	u.index.add(metric, fp)
diff --git a/pkg/util/priority_queue.go b/pkg/util/priority_queue.go
index ce70cf94af..2b3b6d6178 100644
--- a/pkg/util/priority_queue.go
+++ b/pkg/util/priority_queue.go
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ func (pq *PriorityQueue) DrainAndClose() {
 	pq.cond.Broadcast()
 }
 
-// Enqueue adds an operation to the queue in priority order. If the operation
-// is already on the queue, it will be ignored.
-func (pq *PriorityQueue) Enqueue(op Op) {
+// Enqueue adds an operation to the queue in priority order. Returns
+// true if added; false if the operation was already on the queue.
+func (pq *PriorityQueue) Enqueue(op Op) bool {
 	pq.lock.Lock()
 	defer pq.lock.Unlock()
 
@@ -88,12 +88,13 @@ func (pq *PriorityQueue) Enqueue(op Op) {
 
 	_, enqueued := pq.hit[op.Key()]
 	if enqueued {
-		return
+		return false
 	}
 
 	pq.hit[op.Key()] = struct{}{}
 	heap.Push(&pq.queue, op)
 	pq.cond.Broadcast()
+	return true
 }
 
 // Dequeue will return the op with the highest priority; block if queue is