Horrid autumn- 15/8/17

A Horrid factoid- Horrid Hill takes up most of the entry for D-block GB-580000-168000. D-blocks are Domesday Blocks, created for the 1986 national Domesday Reloaded project. In centuries to come, future generations will read and know that..

..so, got to keep making best use of it I s'pose (!)

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05:40-07:50

Point- Two Willow Warbler. As a shower passed, two Wheatear appeared at the jetty wall.

Viz mig- Sight of the morning was undoubtedly a flock of eleven Green Sandpiper that circled the Point before heading south. A further three individuals were also seen. 316 Swallow west, with another eleven heading purposefully south. Eight House Martin also headed west, and a single Reed Bunting west felt autumnal. The Common Tern tally for the visit came to 113.

Offshore- Not quite sight of the morning but rarest for the Medway was a group of four loafing Eider, that drifted out from Bartlett Creek into Half Acre.

When the tide is in, the half-hour after dawn can be good for Starlings. C.2,100 at 06:20 went west-northwest at 06:20 then a second group of 160 went north towards Burntwick at 06:47. These groups are invariably low, some two- three metres over the water, and part of the large congregation that feed on the saltings and islands from mid-summer onwards.