Chiffchaffs were singing and a Kestrel perched atop one of the Sycamores surveying the scene.
Kingsdowner
An account of natural things in and around Kingsdown, East Kent.
Wednesday 20 March 2024
Spring comes to Hawkshill
Saturday 24 February 2024
Kingsdown Rifle Range
... and an aerial picture apparently showing clean chalk after works in the 1930s.
Thursday 15 February 2024
Back to Botany Bay
Back to Botany Bay (Margate) for the first time in a while - this was where I spent my lunch breaks in the mid-2000s, learning quickly from the Planet Thanet forum.
Fortunately it was full high tide, so Fayreness beach was protected from dog-walkers and other disturbance, giving the waders a chance to rest in peace.
The roost held 260 Sanderlings, 150 Oystercatchers, 57 Ringed Plovers, 20 Curlews, one Purple Sandpiper and an uncountable number of restless Turnstones.
This is a similar count to that reported on the blog back in 2008: https://kingsdownkent.blogspot.com/2008/10/sanderlings-and-other-favourites.html
Love the way the Ringed Plovers hunker down in footprints to avoid the wind.
And just one Purple Sandpiper - good to see.
Tucked away under the cliff was a solitary Cherry Plum bush, anticipating spring like its relatives planted along the road verges. You can tell it's a Cherry Plum by its early flowering, and by the folded back sepals.
More frequent across the sand dunes was Sea Spurge, and there'll be a host of other interesting psammophiles ready to appear in the warmer weather. I must return for a swim later in the year.Saturday 6 May 2023
Flamingos and Garrigue
I can never come to terms with seeing flamingos by the roadside. They are such surreal creatures that being in commonplace locations seems wrong. But hey, so long as I don't drive off the road when I see sights like this, I'll put up with them.
By Train to the Med
Everybody's doing it so why not me? Train travel is so much more light-footed so given the choice, the time and a cost-effective solution it seemed sensible to try out a trip around France.
Walmer to St Pancras then back down the same line by Eurostar to Paris. Not an efficient start but not dissimilar to flying. Across Paris was simple, and with a few minutes to spare at Gare de Lyon where the booked seat awaited, on the top deck.
A gentle relaxed non-stop whizz down to the Med followed, through plenty of admitted-dull countryside improved by pleasant hills around Tournus and finally some garrigue south of Lyon, after which the extensive étangs from the Camargue filled the horizon. With flamingos.