Lade - cold, dry and sunny, light airs - It was a cracking morning to be out and about for a stroll with Ted in bright sunshine and with hardly a breath of wind. We walked the circular route beside the lakes, down Seaview Road and back along the beach to Lade, seeing only a handful of souls along the way; it never ceases to amaze me how few people go for a daily walk knowing all the health benefits and well-being it brings. However, the still waters harboured the usual array of wildfowl including four Goldeneyes and ten Wigeons, while a fox sat against the `mirror` buttress enjoying the weak, winter sunshine. Whilst scanning from the bridge a pale Common Buzzard made the grave error of flapping over the coastal housing strip towards Dungeness, setting hundreds of Feral Pigeons, Herring Gulls, Starlings and corvids into a lather. Most notable was the number of Jackdaws present with over 300 counted, but once the `danger` had passed many of them continued to perch in loose flocks on power line poles and roof-tops `kw-owing` loudly. The beach section of the walk at low tide was memorable for Ted`s reaction to frozen sea-ice between the rills; he enjoyed running through the crystals at top speed and rolling in it! Most of the bay waders were quite distant, apart from a small party of Sanderlings that allowed a close approach.
Elsewhere these past few days our Ted walks have taken us across the farmland north of New Romney and the green lane to Old Romney where a few passerines were were logged, including a several Meadow Pipits and Skylarks but precious little else. A local turf field, which is now a like a quagmire following the recent rain, continues to attract flocks of feeding Starlings, Common and Black-headed Gulls.
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