Horrid autumn- 26/08/17

A Horrid factoid- The flint axe factoid of August 14th can now be expanded. It seems such axes were found along the causeway in biggest numbers a hundred years ago, but not because they had been left there by their craftsmen. The material used to create the causeway was unusable leftovers from the chalk quarry at Twydall used by the Cement company, and was only fit for dumping on the saltings. A chamber opened in the quarry was said to have been full of 'Palaeolithic material' provided much of the waste. When the artefacts started to be turned up, the causeway was immediately searched extensively, between 1912 and 1915. So many tools were recovered they became known as 'The Lower Palaeolithic Implements of Twydall'.

My own find is an Acheulean axe; the other 'style' of axe from that time is Clactonian, much smoother in appearance and the appearance of such different designs at the same time is believed to indicate two separate tribal lines. Acheulean finds in the area are very much the rarer.

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26/08/17
06:05-08:10, uncovering tide

Point- Willow Warbler. Just the one, slightly confused, individual. It tried to follow the neck of the Peninsula towards the shoreline, but, for some unfathomable reason, turned west low over the saltings and ditched into the spartina, not to be seen again.

Viz mig- Yellow Wagtail west, Grey Wagtail east, Swallow 12 west. The flightline for Grey Wagtails at the this time of year is often east; almost as if these are birds that have followed the Medway downstream. 21 Grey Plover and three Dunlin were seen to fly inland.