St Margaret's at Cliffe Photo Diary

Taken at Whipp's Cross Hospital 2/1/2007

Taken 2/1/2016 Eden Road Walthamstow.

Although The Isles of Scilly, for birders, are most renowned for the rarities it also is great for some of the species that are just slightly out of the ordinary.

Most of the beaches and bays are hosts to groups of "alba" wagtails, and often White Wagtails out number Pied Wagtails in these prime feeding areas.

We were on St Mary's during the half term week at the end of October and this is the perfect time for an influx of one of my favourites, Black Redstarts.  A walk down to Watermill Bay produced several, including a couple of stunning males.

Even the immatures have a very appealing look as they flit around, finding small insects  and flashing their tails as they go,

This shows the bright outer tail feathers come to both sexes, and the pale wing patch of a  male. 

Occasionally one of the local Robins joined them on the beach, sometimes demonstrating a less than welcome approach to their cousins.

Another picture of a young bird, for no other reason than I like it!

On the Saturday morning, before the afternoon ferry back to Penzance, the Osprey that had been around for a few days put in a good performance at Higher Moors/Porth Hellick Pool.

Yesterday our 5 year (two month and 9 day) old Grandson, Sam, held his belated birthday party. The family had been away on Jan 2nd, the actual date, and Sam decided to wait until later to celebrate this ripe old age with his friends.

He decided on an open air celebration which would commence with a nature walk. To try and make it more interesting Simon and I hit on the idea of some simple "work sheets" done like one of the old fashioned I spy books, with just a few pictures with names to fill in.

I did take along a couple of telescopes and these proved a big hit with some of the kids, although I'm not convinced any of the saw what I originally put into view. Nevertheless the sky certainly got a thorough looking at!

The event was held at Hollow Pond, on Whipps Cross Road, which stands at the southern end of what is still called Epping Forest. It is still an interesting green areas where there was quite a lot to see in a good accessible way for the children.

I was pleased that there were more than the expected Mallards representing the Ducks, although this female didn't match the black and white picture on their "work-sheet".

Luckily the male appeared from behind and Island and at times even its eponymous tuft was visible. Every one seemed to enjoy the even, especially when Pam arrived with some hot food, followed by birthday cakes and various other nibbles. I think it's great to start to sow the seeds of some interest in the natural world at an early age, let's hope that Sam's generation are better custodians of their environment than ours has been.

Today I tootled along to the Restharrow Scrape in the hope of seeing the Garganey's that had been present yesterday, but unfortunately they seem to have moved on. Peering through to gloom towards the railway at Mary Bax I eventually found the two Cranes that have been around for a few days. They were not photographable, but through a scope they OK and were obviously very actively feeding in one area. Wouldn't it be great if the work done by the RSPB on their new reserve brought breeding Cranes to Kent, as has been done in Somerset and Norfolk/Suffolk.

Folkestone boasts that it has the best free adventure playground in the County of Kent, and while we haven't been to other contenders, this one is certainly very impressive.

There is a massive complex of climbing frames, walk-ways, tunnel, rope bridges and enclosed metal chutes or slides.

This is the biggest slide, and I was made to promise I wouldn't "have a go", although we did meet Heather Chantler, who informed us that a senior member of the Bockhill Birders had tried it out, when there with his grandchildren, and had got stuck in it!

Sam's four and three-quarter sized girth ensured that he had no such trouble, and he seemed to enjoy the experience.

The whole complex is beautifully designed, and it is easy to sit and follow the progress of your charge with out having to expend too much energy (other than the long walk down the Zig-Zig path.

After the playground the sea beckoned (not for Pam or me) and Sam went for a paddle. Quite why he was practising his Irish Jig I don't know.

It was when Sam was coming out of the water that he really discovered the joys of walking on a stony beach with no shoes on. As I was photographing these antics I managed to drop my lens cap. When I bent down to get it, I discovered it had found it's way through a gap in the large rocks and it was now well out of reach under the concrete groyne.

A few feet further along, a larger gap enabled me to slide along the six feet or so, on my Darby Kelly, in a gap about 18 ins high. I have never fancied trying pot-holing and after this experience I certainly haven't changed my mind.

After all this we decided a hot coffee for us two and an ice cream for Sam would round of the excursion. The Mermaid Cafe and Bar is right at the bottom of the cliff, surrounded by a lot of Tamarisk and other vegetation. I was surprised to find that there was a really healthy looking flock of House Sparrows down there.

My garden flock has certainly dwindled over the last few years, the birds here obviously do well out the the customers dropped crumbs, and of course the peanut feeders provided for them by the Cafe.

We've had young Sam staying for three days, and today we went to Walmer Castle. It is just down the road and it is a fascinating property belonging to English Heritage. They own several properties in Kent, but this one ensures we get our money's worth from our membership.

Today they had an Easter Egg Treasure Hunt. Sam was a bit young for the children's clues, but Pam and I could manage most of them. The adult quiz was a test of memory, and sad to say we failed on a couple of questions (made me realise how much I've come to rely on google to find the answers that have faded from my brain cells).

The castle and grounds are a real delight, and well worth visiting. Now the moat is dry a quick tour round it doesn't require a boat. The castle was built during the reign of King Henry VIII, and was originally designed as part of a chain of coastal artillery defences.

The kitchen garden is something to be very envious of. Their broad beans are already making good growth.

We were very impressed by the wonderful Yew hedges. Just how many birds use it for nesting is anyone's guess.

Sam did find a rather splendid tree stump to climb, I suppose when Granddad says "you can't climb that" it is rather an invitation to prove him wrong.

Sam is full of surprises. Sometimes he is very cautious at the playground when it comes to climbing and jumping, so when he launched himself off the top, and went back to repeat it so I could capture the moment I was quite impressed with his confidence.

The badgers appeared quite early tonight and as Sam had had a brief doze after our activities at Walmer we let him stay up a bit later than usual. He was thrilled to see this one arrive. I've been putting the peanuts out on two old plates, normally only one turns up and clears both, but I've always hoped two would turn up and the two plates would prevent a squabble. And so it was two night.

When the second one turned up, the Badger in possession let out a long, deep, guttural growl, but didn't make physical contact. The second badger settled down at the unused plate, fortunately the closest one, and they both kept a respectful distance and got on with their nibbles.

The second Badger wasn't much larger, but did seem to have a broader head. When he finished his quota, there was still some left on the other plate and he made advances towards it. Badger number one didn't seem to feel like arguing and quickly sidled off the patio into the dark.

There wasn't much left for the "boss" but he did look rather smug as he finished them of. I was quite pleased that it hadn't come down to a fight, this has happened in the past and their ferocity might have disturbed Sam. The example of strategic withdrawal was a good lesson.

While Sam was staying with us we visited the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, as far as I know the worlds smallest public railway.

We started at New Romney Station, the headquarters of the Railway. Here, above the cafe is the Toy and Model Museum.

There are various exhibits, the main one being a fabulous 00 layout. Sam is playing with a separate, larger guage railway, where the observer can control the trains with a puish button.

The OO guauge layout is fantastic. it features computer-controlled trains that depict expresses, freight-trains and branch operations from all over Europe and from different periods in time. Detailed stations, factories, sidings and landscapes complete the picture. It think that there were over 20 trains running when Pam and Sam were watching here.

Pam and Simon were waiting to catch a train to Hythe, where I would pick them up. While we were waiting a train stopped on it's way to Dungeness. This is a more modern train, a diesel, "John Southland" built in 1983.

As they pulled out I watched and excited Sam waving out of the window. I think Pam had realised that the suspension wasn't too good and that she was in for a bumpy ride to Hythe.

It wasn't a race, and I did see them crossing Romney Marsh as I went through Dymchurch, but I arrived at Hythe Station with a few minutes to spare. It wasn't long before the train arrived and I picked up two passengers. It is always a good trip out, especially with kids, and the model railway at New Romney is the best I've seen. I suppose the fact that the end of the ride is at Dungeness makes a mixed railway and birding excursion quite feasible. It could end up very busy if and when the ridiculous plans for an airport expansion takes place.