A windy Oare Marshes

Excellent to be seeing fair numbers of Pintail on the East Flood,

There were reasonable numbers of Pintail all around, often giving good views as they upended or just ducked their heads down feeding, or just rested on the bank.



and here is a closer  view of the same photo, showing the beautiful grey vermiculations on the flank and back



There were four or five Common Gulls, Larus canus, close to the road, some with really dark head blotching,

The Black-headed Gulls are quite rapidly developing their breeding plumage now.

There was a Great Crested Grebe on the Swale off the mouth of Faversham Creek, and Wigeon flighted in the distance. No other birds were braving the off-shore winds perhaps?

There were dozens of Black-tailed Godwits on the East Flood, some feeding and some asleep.

A brief return to Beacon Wood

I went back to Beacon Wood for a brief walk with Monty, driving through a sharp rainstorm just before I arrived. The weather improved greatly during the visit.

As I arrived at the clearing with the picnic table, I saw a fat wasp on the leaves low down on the treeline, which turned out to be Chlorotoxum cautum, a wasp-mimic hoverfly.