Around the garden

Lade - warm, dry and sunny, sw 3 - Another fine day of summer weather and mercifully chav free on the beaches after yesterdays madness. We had a brief burst of thunder and lightening with rain for about 10 minutes around 5am (just as I was covering the moth trap!) followed by a still, muggy period before the wind swung round and picked up off the Atlantic, bringing a welcome fresher feel to the atmosphere.
  The local patch was notable for the curious appearance of an adult female Cuckoo along the main track where the human footfall usually deters them, although we were out early this morning due to the heat. There are plenty of Dunnocks and Whitethroats to exploit in the gorse scrub by the track so I assume that`s what it was up too. Normally, Cuckoos are most active around the willow swamp and reedbeds seeking out their main host species, Reed Warbler. A Common Tern on south lake was unusual, which is crazy when you think of the activity just across the Desert on the bird reserve lakes.

                               Common Tern, south lake

  The moth trap was a little disappointing but did contain 21 species of macros including our 4th Sussex Emerald of the season. Working around the garden this morning several Marbled Whites drifted over from the shingle ridges along with Meadow and Hedge Browns. Our local Starling and House Sparrows gave great value performing on the feeders and in the water bowls, while a washed out Blue Tit on the fat balls was good to see as it`s a bird that rarely visits our coastal garden. One of the Magpies flew in with a hunk of bread, dunked it in a water bowl and swished it around before devouring it; what a clever bird! Alarm calls by the spadgers throughout the day alerted us to two Sparrowhawks and a Hobby over.

                                Garden birds

  This afternoon we had a run out to ARC where the car park has now been reopened between 0900 -1700hrs, which should alleviate the parking problem along the Lydd/Dungeness road. Please note that the bird reserve trails and access road remain closed until further notice. Down towards the pines the Black-winged Stilt was still present alongside a smart adult male Ruff on the islands in front of Screen hide. There was no sign of the Gull-billed Tern, although was reported in the evening.
  At the fishing boats a one hour seawatch delivered little bird wise, apart from several passing Gannets, Common and Sandwich Terns and a Mediterranean Gull, but was good for morale. As we were leaving a pulse of 20 Swifts headed west along the coast.

                                A sign of the times

                                Black-winged Stilt and `black` Ruff