Barney at 10

Lade - cool, cloudy, sw 2 - My faithful mutt, Barney, is ten years old today; how sad is that when you can remember the dog`s birthday, but not some of your family members`! Anyhow, we had our usual early morning chat and I asked him if he wanted to do anything special, but no, he said he was  perfectly happy with his usual run out back, though if I could lay on a cat for him to chase that would be a bonus, or maybe a Border Terrier bitch in season would be nice (that`s enough of that sort of talk), otherwise no fuss...
  Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, the Swifts had returned over south lake, about 100 of `em, hawking insects rising off the scrub and whizzing past my head. I could watch Swifts all day, devil birds, rain-dodgers, tick-bearers, denizens of the skies, terrific value and surely in every birders` top ten.
  The garden moth trap was reduced to only 10 species of macros last night, due to the brisk wind, and it wasn't much better at the Kerton Road café where half a dozen White-spots were the highlight. The café botanist commented on how abundant the delightfully named, and endemic to our area (probably) Stinking Hawksbeard is this summer on her SSSI. So, after a crash-course in Crepis foetida identification (drooping buds and leaves that smell like TCP when crushed) I shall be keeping an eye out for it on my local patch of herb-rich shingle.

                                Barney

Dungeness - A wander around the Trapping Area/Desert delivered very little  apart from a few  Swifts heading south. An afternoon guided walk for RSPB delivered the usual wide range of flora and fauna with the highlight bird wise being half a dozen Hobbies over Dengemarsh.