...there I was driving along and listening to Radio Kent...sort of listening....it was the 'force 6 to gale 8' that caught my attention...though this turned out to be in the English Channel somewhere....then one of the presenters was talking about.....eeeeek....the F word...all five letters of it!!....FROST....
Apparently, and I dont know where he got it from, theres a risk of frost over night....im assuming that as it was Radio Kent he was talking about Kent....
...anyway...it wasnt looking too good for today when I awoke...it was raining...as forecast by the Met Office....it soon stopped and the cloud started to break...so I got out of bed and had breakfast...it didnt seem as if it wanted to rain again so I quickly changed (a la Mr Ben obviously) and jumped in the car...
0940 - 1050
It was a quick visit as more rain was forecast and I wasnt to be disappointed on that front....it tried a couple of times whilst I was wandering the area and a heavy shower ensued when I got back to the car....
It was nice to get two different birds to start....8 Stock Dove swirling overhead and a Treecreeper in the little copse where I park the car.
Chaffinch, Blackbird, Crow, Great Tit, Kestrel, Magpir, Green Woodpecker, Woodpigeon, Wren, Goldfinch, Meadow Pipit, Long Tail Tit, Blue Tit, Skylark, Jay...
On the pits...
95 Black Headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, 1 Common Gull, 8 Mallard, 25 Coot, 26 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 37 Shoveler, 15 Gadwall, 12 Teal, 4 Mute Swan, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret, 14 Cormorant, 3 f Pochard.
I had a look around for some plants still flowering....heres a few, two pictures of each...im fairly sure of the identification of this first one....though if you know different just let me know please...
Hawksweed Oxtongue, Luonto portti
I took these next two pictures a week or so ago, the plant itself is now going over. I have only found this species in one spot on site. If you have piles its the plant for you, make a cup of tea from the flowers....though im not a doctor so dont blame me for any...er...resulting issues...
Its also got a large number of different names....brideweed, bridewort, butter and eggs, butter and bread, dead mens bones, devils flax to name a few....
Common Toadflax, Linaria vulgaris
Heres another plant im reasonably sure of the identification of....
Camomile, Chamaemelum nobile or Anthemis nobilis
Latin...seems to depend on which one you favour or want to call it. Anyway, both included here so everyone is happy! Camomile is the older English name, where as Chamomile derives via Latin and Greek. Hate to say it, but yet again, its good for piles....also, one of the compounds found in the plant is apigenin which has demonstrated chemopreventive effects against cancer cells...again...im not a doctor...so..dont trust me...!
Heres a nice ploughed field...just in time for winter and the reduced food available....until recently this field, and the adjoining ones, had a few weeds in it containing seeds for some over wintering finches and the like....now...well...its a desert of no food for them...
..and just to make sure of continued environmental issues
theres a nice bit of ploughing up to the edge of the ditch...
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