Sand Martins

Lade 0800hrs - mild, cloudy, sw3 - Walking across the storm beaches towards the pits this morning a party of ten Sand Martins zipped purposefully southwards. This tiny martin is something of a scarcity down here during the spring and none breed locally. However, come late summer it seems as though the entire British population decamps to Dungeness before heading out across the Channel by early September. The Lade 10 may have been the advanced party.
Have had three calls now concerning a yellow finch-like bird seen in gardens from Lydd-on-Sea to Littlestone, including one from Hobbits Mum, who noted a yellow rump, so it could be a Serin (and she`s seen a few), or an escaped Canary cage bird. Anyhow, more of which anon...
GWE still at Dengemarsh, plus a pale, heron-type-thing on ARC...