LAVENDER BLOOM

Plenty of warm sunshine at the start of Monday 7th for the walk along the Strood seawall. Lots of sea lavender is in bloom on many areas of the saltmarsh alongside the channel, such as this area pictured in front of the caravan site.

The tide was coming in during the late morning walk but plenty of mud still visible. Very few waders on the mud except for 150 redshank gathered in one area by the incoming tide, also 5 black-tailed godwits, one or two oystercatchers, a lapwing and curlew were also noted.

Over the land, a marsh harrier was quartering the Strood fields while a second bird could be seen north-east of the Strood causeway. On Ray Island a pair of kestrels were seen beside one of the dead trees there.
Two little egrets were seen inside the narrow ditch between two of the fields.

A yellow wagtail flew over calling, two reed warblers sang briefly from the reeds and a meadow pipit was the first one noted here for a few months.

Andy Field watched a hobby together with a sparrowhawk fly over High Street North on Monday.

The pied blackbird was seen back in the Firs Chase garden for the first time for several months.