On the wires

There are , I suppose, few images more evocative of the arrival of autumn in the bird calendar than swallows on telegraph wires.

A Turtle Dove on a wire at Ripple

Starlings and a Wood Pigeon

This young Kestrel has taken to sitting on a flint on the cliffs at Kingsdown, just as one from last year's brood did before it.

Perches are useful to birds, and also to birders as the little blighters can be seen easier. At Foreness on Thanet, the water treatment work that has been going on for a couple of years is coming to an end - the fences that have surrounded the works have been good for birds and I've seen a peregrine, a merlin, kestrels, whinchats, wheatears, stonechats and many other birds using them.

Perhaps we should arrange for more fences, stumps etc to be set up, to replace those being taken down by the contractors?

The Foreness water treatment works, beyond the putting green. A great bird-watching area, right on the corner of Kent.

Beachcombers

A very sociable weekend (just to show that being a nature blogger isn't - necessarily - a solitary anti-social life). Some MX5 owners had a run along the South Downs, finishing at Eastbourne - some very narrow roads taxed the GPS systems to the limit but fortunately a pub was found.

Returning from Eastbourne, a stop at Pett pools was rewarded by some excellent close views of a wide variety of waders unfortunately uncaptured by camera - wood , green and curlew sandpipers, a ruff [or was it a pectoral sandpiper, subsequently ID'd?], a score each of dunlin and lapwings, avocets, snipe, common and spotted redshanks and a greenshank - and a distant but unmistakable little stint. A marvellous place at this time of the year.

Back at Kingsdown, a meal of fish'n'chips was eaten on the beach, and a fire was lit to warm us as darkness fell. When the flames died down, the strand was scoured for fuel - dry seaweed kept the fire going but we were kippered by the end of the evening.

Sea level changes and protection

The Environment Agency & DDC have issued a consultation document about the best ways to manage the coastal defences from Pegwell to Kingsdown, with submissions required before October 12th :
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/yourenv/consultations/1835117/?version=1&lang=_e

The preferred options for the Kingsdown area are:

Walmer Castle, Kingsdown and Oldstairs Bay – Maintain The preferred option has been selected since this option would prevent erosion and loss of property, and is the most cost-effective and environmentally acceptable solution.

MoD Rifle Range – Managed realignment The preferred option is Managed Realignment. This would provide the maximum environmental benefit, restoring the coastline towards a more natural process. This option is dependent on further analysis of the site and the availability of funding and intentions of the land owner, who will be responsible for implementation of this option.

The map below estimates the areas threatened by flooding if sea levels rise to a certain level - clearly Thanet will become an island again, and much of Deal and Sandwich will disappear.



As I live on a hill, I say: 'Let them sink' but that's probably not a broadly-held view. [Oh OK, Deal and Sandwich are lovely towns, and should be protected]



During the quiet times on Deal pier (in between the hectic recording of huge numbers of birds flying past ahem) I have wondered what the piece of equipment on the end of the pier did - I assumed it was probably something to stop shipping colliding with the thing in fog.


But no....

...it measures the size of each wave - and the results are used by the Channel Coastal Observatory (http://www.channelcoast.org/) to provide information for development of strategic shoreline management plans, coastal defence strategies and operational management of coastal protection and flood defence.



As previously reported, this August had some rough seas driven by NEasterly gales, and this is shown on their graph:



Perhaps the equipment could double as a bird recorder, to reduce the time spent at the end of the pier in the cold winds of winter? But why should we be deprived of that pleasure?

Oak bush cricket

This and other Oak Bush Crickets were found in my car, after loading bags of pruning from our garden Holm Oak and leaving them there overnight, before disposal at the dump.

The Oak Bush-cricket is nocturnal and usually not noticed during the day. At night it becomes active and is attracted to lights and so may be found in houses, on windows and under street and other bright lights.

It is almost entirely carnivorous, feeding on smaller invertebrates. Females can often be found on tree trunks looking for suitable egg-laying sites, during late evening. The females lay their eggs in crevices in tree bark. The eggs over winter and the nymphs emerge in June of the following year becoming adult in late July or August.

This species does not have a normal song but drums on leaves with a hind foot. It is just about audible to humans at about 1 m. So that's what keeps me awake at night.

Cliff-nesting Martins

There was plenty of avian activity on the cliffs beside the rifle range in the bright morning sunlight. The usual residents were seen - feral pigeons, jackdaws, crows, whitethroats, rock pipits, kestrels and house martins have all been here through the summer and hopefully have bred successfully.
The fulmars have now departed for the open sea, and will return in the late winter to choose nesting sites.

These cliffs hold one of only two House Martin cliff nesting sites in Kent, and the later youngsters are still in the nests - it seemed that the rest of the flock was trying to encourage them out today.

There are fewer nests on houses these days, which is a shame as they were considered lucky in the days of my youth(!). Now, in the B&Q age, our houses are expected to be pristine inside and out, so martins' nests are routinely destroyed. Perhaps the lack of muddy puddles (also tidied up) prevents the birds from building in our neat suburbs.

Seals

This Grey Seal bobbed around off Kingsdown this morning, checking what was happening on the beach.
Grey seals have flatter heads than Common Seals, which look more 'puppy-like'. The Greys tend to be found more around rocky coasts, while the Commons prefer sandy shores, and consequently it is usually the latter that are seen around Kent, especially hauled up on the banks of the Stour estuary or on the Goodwin Sands.

The photos of Common Seals (below) were taken in September last year from a boat on a SBBO trip.

The NBN survey maps show the different sightings of the two species:- first the Grey Seal with a presence in (for example) Cornwall but not the Wash, and second the Common Seal, vice versa.

Grey Seal sightings

Common Seal sightings

Life has a porpoise

At last, the cold wet weather has passed, leaving warm sunshine, and for a Bank Holiday weekend too. A stroll along the cliffs was needed, so I walked to my usual lookout at Hope Point.

Harebells

A couple of young kittiwakes were the best of the birds flying south, but I was rewarded by the local porpoise slowly passing along the coast. As it's now a regular here, I expect it has a nickname?

Soon afterwards, a pair of kayakers passed by, presumably making for St Margaret's Bay - the older of the two looked like he was struggling into the wind - porpoise food perhaps?

Small Whites enjoying the warmth

A tatty Magpie

A view from the golf course towards the village