After the trauma of yesterday lunchtime at Shorne, I was all
of a dither as to which way to go today or whether to even bother but the sun
was shining and so the boots went back on and off I went.
With no great plan in mind I made my way through Strood
(where the retail park was back to being busy by 9am) and then cut through to
the Submarine. The Medway was rushing
out at an astonishing lick and the waters were going in all directions at once
with fierce eddies and swirls. You would
not fancy your chances in those murky waters.
The chalky bit of ‘waste ground’ by the Riverside Tavern
still had Pied Wagtails but also an amazing spread of flowers that must have
been lurking there all along in the seed bank with Kidney Vetch, Poppies and
even Corn Marigolds!
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Kidney Vetch |
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| Corn Marigold |
The next open area where the gulls normally hang about now
had Tree Mallow and Purple Toadflax flowering along the fenceline and it seems
that if there is the tiniest patch of soil then there is a chance of a seed germinating.
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| Tree Mallow |
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| Purple Toadflax |
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| A few Garden Snails aestivating on the fence |
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| Field and Opium Poppies around the edges |
I made my way up the slope to All Saints Frindsbury hoping
that I would at last find a churchyard with a pair of Spotted Flycatchers but
alas I drew another blank and the old quarry top field did not have any orchids
as I thought it might but I did find a rather splendid female Broad Bodied
Chaser.
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| Broad Bodied
Chaser |
I checked the Marsh Warbler looking habitat by the sewage
works before heading past Gundulph Pool and into Upnor.
From here I chose not to follow the river be continued on
Upchat Road below the woods. The houses here push into the old quarry on the
east side and it was interesting to look over the rooftops to see the rather
narrow stratified banks above the naked Chalk. I may have to do some geological
online digging.
There is a fence preventing you going up to the edge and
tumbling down into the tree below – apart from a section opposite a huge
rusting cylinder suspended in a metal shed over the edge looking like some redundant
Medway Anti Aircraft gun!. I presume it was something to do with the old quarrying
process.
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| Learned opinions welcomed! |
I had not walked this little stretch before and it was good
to find another singing Lesser Whitethroat and family of Great Spots. I crossed
the main road and cut up towards the defunct Chattenden Barracks and onto the
now closed off old road where I had all the Nightingales.
I had the place to myself and was hoping that I might be
lucky and find an early Silver Washed Frit but I only saw Speckled Woods and a
couple of Holly Blues. There was the odd snatch of Nightingale song and a bit
of huweeting and croaking so hopefully they are having a successful breeding
season.
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| Holly Blue |
The upper ride that I found that took me into Chattenden
Woods is obviously often damp as there were Sedges and Rushes (looked like Flase Fox Sedge and Juncus that we get at work) growing in
amongst the Brambles, Nettles and Grasses. I lingered and picked up a few
Hovers including lots of territorial Eristalis intracaria and a few Syphus and
Helophilus pendulus.
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Syphus ribesii - I saw the back legs better!
|
I am pretty sure that I added two new bumbles to my walk
list with several Southern Cuckoo Bee (B.vestalis) and Garden Bumblebee (B.hortorum)
amongst the other regular species.
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| Garden Bumble Bee (B.hortorum) |
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| Garden Bumblebee (B.hortorum) |
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| Southern Cuckoo Bee (B.vestalis) |
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| Early Bumblebee (B.sylvarum) |
Dog Roses were in full bloom in shades of pink and white and
I may have found Burnet Rose lower down with proper poached egg flowers and
small fine leaves.
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| Dog Rose |
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| Burnet Rose- I think! |
I did discover two very wild animals lurking in the verge
and it took some stealth and fieldcraft to get such good images without
disturbing the subjects.
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| The rarely seen North Kent Banded Tapir |
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| and the Medway Squiffy-eyed Kangaroo |
From here I emerged into the orchards and the lane toward
Dillywood and home with only a Hobby and a new Yellow Wagtail territory from a
bird point of view.
The fields of what I thought were multicoloured lettuce
leaves would appear to actually be some sort of mini Chard or Spinach and have
already been skilfully scalped by some clever harvester unlike the roadside banks
that have been completely obliterated of Alexanders, Campion and Stitchwort
that was so full of life...
