ALIENS TAKE REFUGE

It wasn't just the humans sheltering inside on Monday 10th as the wind and rain lashed down outside. This is a group of the alien Harlequin ladybirds - "the most invasive ladybird species on the planet." Slight variations between them, although most have the same number and pattern of spots. A few have the distinctive black W on the front part near the head.

This was the view along the seawall from Coopers Beach at high tide, during the strong winds and rain. The sea was pounding the seawall so much that I immediately abandoned the idea of walking along it. Constant spray showers and a very slippery surface meant it was safer and drier to stay away. As far as the eye could see, great plumes of spray were being flung up and over the wall.

There was one bird of note seen during the short walk. An adult Mediterranean gull plodded across the football pitch in the company of 40 black-headed gulls, looking for worms. The Med gull is in the centre of the photo facing right with the very black head. Through the binoculars, this bird had at least one coloured ring on its leg, a white one. In recent years there have been some birds ringed further round the Essex coast in Hamford Water, so this maybe one of them. Last week Michael Thorley saw two Mediterranean gulls on the sea near here at the Youth Camp.

Not much else to see in the rain and strong wind other than sheltering wood pigeons and a group of long-tailed tits.

Crossing the Strood causeway in the afternoon, at least 100 black-tailed godwits were feeding on the mud close to the road.