Wet and windy

Lade - mild, cloudy, showery, sw 5 - The past couple of days have been much of a muchness weatherwise with successive bands of rain sweeping in off the Atlantic. A Great White Egret was around the willow swamp yesterday, while Swallows continue to filter south in ever decreasing numbers. Goldfinches appear to be everywhere, even on the garden feeders, and small numbers of Siskins and Redpolls are still on the move overhead around dawn. This morning a Firecrest was a first for the season in the garden fir trees. On Monday, at Dungeness, I finally caught up with two Crossbills, that thankfully called, as they zipped in off the sea and over the old lighthouse, in what has been a good autumn for this species.

Today the weather worsened still with torrential downpours of rain and hail throughout, plus several bouts of thunder and lightening.