Lade - Hot, dry and sunny, light airs - And it was a scorcher, even down here on the normally windy coast where it was wall-to-wall sun-seekers on the beach; and with high tide at 1430 hrs even we had our first sea-swim of summer, along with Sandwich Terns rasping overhead and Grey Seals bobbing up and down further out in the bay wondering what all the fuss was about.
An early morning sortie around the local patch delivered a trickle of Yellow Wagtails overhead and a few Willow Warblers in the bushes, while on south lake two Little Egrets were slumped on the island amongst the Black-headed Gulls and a Dunlin. Just as we turned for home two Whimbrels came down the coast whistling away, after briefly diverting over the lake they climbed high and I followed them south and out of sight as they went high over the Pilot heading for France. Knowing what awaits these fabulous waders across the Channel at this time of year, I only hoped that they would manage to eluded the thousands of gunners that lay in wait for any migrant bird along the Pas-de-Calais, and eventually arrive safely in their winter quarters along the west coast of Africa.
Phew! It`s too hot.
Our local gang of House Sparrows and Starlings provide us with rich entertainment whilst we breakfast in the garden, along with a supporting cast of Woodpigeons and Collared Doves both species which are sex mad and forever nest-building and quaralling. The fat balls and seed do not last for long and in this hot weather, ponds, water bowls and bird bathes around the garden are gratefully received. The appearance of a Sparrowhawk did cause a brief `dread` this morning as they all dived for cover; safety in numbers had done the trick, at least this time.
Monarch of Lydd-on-Sea, 6-8-20 (by D & R Beck)
Yesterday morning there was much excitement down the road at the Kerton Road Cafe where the owners were distracted from clearing the moth traps by the appearance of a mega insect on the garden buddleia - a Monarch! Following an excited phone call from Dorothy I was on site ten minutes later, but the Monarch of Lydd-on-Sea had unkindly done the off in the back gardens along the railway line never to be seen again, despite a search. Luckily Robert managed a pic on the good old smart phone as can be seen above. This is the first record for the Dungeness area in over 20 years. Apparently, there is now a thriving population of Monarchs in south-west Spain, presumably from trans-Atlantic migrants, so perhaps that`s where it originated from, given the recent southerly airflow.
The first two Spotted Flycatchers of autumn were noted in a garden at St Mary`s-in-the-Marsh this morning.
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