It was pretty much, Seventh-Heaven, on the 'Patch' today

We arrived a little later than we would have ideally liked; the Incoming Tide was fairly well advanced and we missed the dear Ringed Plovers who had departed for their Inland, High Tide Refuge.

But while walking up the Footpath leading from Crabtree Manorway North to the Thames Path we looked up and spied a Buzzard flying and circling high above us. Our first of the Year!

So we are now up to 74 Bird Species on the 'Patch' for the 'Patchwork Challenge 2016'. Our most recent Sightings have been:

Great Tit (Number 70)
Kingfisher (Number 71) viz. (you have to look super-closely but it is there)
Common Sandpiper (Number 72)
Wigeon (Number 73) viz.
and today's Buzzard (Number 74).

We are also 99% certain that we spotted a Shoveler swimming/feeding mid-stream in the Thames but it was a pretty dreary day and annoyingly the Duck was just too far distant for us to be absolutely certain as to its identity.

But enough of that. We didn't see many Bird Species today; but that is par for the Course. Truth to tell, we reckon to see about 70% of the Birds that a 'proper bird person' will see during an Outing although sometimes it seems far less than that; perhaps down to 30%!

But there were two distant Peregrine Falcons resting on the side of the nearby Waste Incinerator and of course, the aforesaid Buzzard.

And (six) Dunlins, (three) Black-Tailed Godwits, a few Lapwings and some Black-Headed Gulls both charmed us and kept us fully entertained.

Other Birds seen: Canada Geese (flying Upstream), Cormorants, a Dunnock, House Sparrows, a Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Mallards, a Redshank and Teals.

And with a Sunny Day to boot; we were Content. Perfectly Content.

A Footnote: it was very quiet Shipping-Wise although we made a first sighting of the Research and Survey Vessel, Solent Guardian viz.

We make another Submission of Botanical Records to the Kent Botanical Recording Group (KBRG)

The more time we spend looking for Wild Flowers &c. the more we become aware of how very, very little, we know about them. Which in itself is not actually a problem since we are perfectly happy to accept our very considerable limitations.

We made our first (bulk) Submission of Records to the Kent Botanical Recording Group (KBRG) during July-2016, for Grid Reference TQ5079 (see 'We make our first Submission of Botanical Records to the Kent Botanical Recording Group (KBRG)' ~ 1 July 2016).

We subsequently submitted a few more Records; including (the super-pretty) Water Plantain viz.

seen in the Ditch that runs beside Church Manorway and Mulberry Way (a Celery-Leaved Buttercup,  another new record, may be seen in the background).

So having gotten off the mark, we once again cast caution aside and during early-September made another Submission of Records, this time for Grid Reference TQ4980.

Plants such as Dittander (on the Kent Rare Plant Register) viz.

and Yellow Vetchling (on the Kent Rare Plant Register) viz.

had already been submitted.

But we were able to add Seventy plus Plants to the Register, including:

Agrimony viz.

Common Centaury viz.

Crown Vetch viz.

Cowslip viz.

Hoary Plantain (super-pretty and on the Kent Rare Plant Register) viz.

Hop Trefoil viz.

Kidney Vetch viz.

Marsh Woundwort viz.

Moth Mullein viz.

Rosy Garlic viz.

Salad Burnet viz.

Slender Thistle viz.

Stinking Iris viz.

Sulphur Cinquefoil viz.

Wild Basil viz.

Winter Heliotrope viz.

and Yellow-Wort viz.

In the company of Seals

We arrived beside the Thames at around 13.30 o'clock; parking the car close to the former Thamesmead Golf Course.

We saw a small group of people on the Thames Path overlooking the River. And Yippee; there were two assumed Common Seals (one pretended to be a banana!) resting on the Mud beside the River viz.

With the tide coming in they were quite close to us and we wondered if they were the pair, assumed parent and child, we had seen late last year and earlier this year in the same spot. We decided it was quite probable.

NB. the previous day we had seen another Seal resting on the Mud in the area where the Ringed Plovers hang out viz.

Golden Dock growing on the former Thamesmead Golf Course

Golden Dock is included within the Kent Rare Plant Register.

And Wow: during recent visits we have found at least seven (up from six) plants which have super-kindly been confirmed by the Kent Botanical Recording Group as Golden Dock viz.

Yippee.

Most of the Plants are located within the range of Grid References TQ 48111 80931 or thereabouts and TQ 48172 81006, to the East of the Trees that are growing in the sort-of-centre of the former Golf Course viz.

There are two plants growing at Grid References tbi. Since the character of the area has changed almost beyond recognition, further checking is needed to pinpoint, by Grid Reference, the plant's locations.

Footnote:

These are the seven plants:

Update 11 August: an eighth plant was found.

We make our first Submission of Botanical Records to the Kent Botanical Recording Group (KBRG)

We cannot stress too strongly that we are super-novices at Plant Identification &c. Honesty compels us to admit this is unlikely to change much.

Nevertheless, over the past few months we have maintained copious Records of our local Sightings.

That being said, there are Plant Families we know next to nothing about so we are sensibly ignoring them for the time being viz. the Cabbage Family, the Daisy Family &c.

Acting on the somewhat scary suggestion that we submit our Records to the Kent Botanical Recording Group (KBRG) we went through the process of learning about Grid References &c.

And although very much aware of our considerable limitations, we became Members of the KBRG, the London Borough of Bexley and the Immediate Surrounding Area falling within Vice-County 16 (West Kent) for Biological Recording purposes.

The KBRG have super-kindly supplied us Lists of Plants Recorded within various (local) Grid References; earlier this week we took the plunge and with considerable trepidation, submitted some Records for Grid reference, TQ5079.

The Submitted Records were compiled from Plants seen beside the Thames Path and on the Thames' Foreshore, beside the Public Footpath that leads up from Church Manorway to the Thames Path and beside Church Manorway itself.

And Wow; we were able to add Sixty plus Plants to the Register. However, it is perhaps appropriate to mention that the area hasn't been frequently visited for Recording Purposes; thus explaining the fairly high number of Plants we were able to add to the Register.

Three of the Plants included in our Submission are on the Kent Rare Plant Register, namely:

Ragged Robin viz.

Wild Clary viz.

and Yellow Vetchling viz.

all of which were seen growing beside the Public Footpath that leads up from Church Manorway to the Thames Path.

And we learned that a Plant we had been led to believe was Neapolitan Garlic viz.

might instead be Hairy Garlic. We understand the Key to Identification is the Leaf ' Margins. Something to look out for next year if, God Willing, we are still around (this year's Flowering Season being over).

Also; that the oft-seen Danish Scurvygrass growing in profusion on the Thames' Foreshore, is in fact, English Scurvygrass viz.

Whoooooooooops!

Other Plants new to the Register for TQ5079 included:

Biting Stonecrop
Black Spleenwort
Bladder Campion
Common Mullein
Dark Mullein
Hop Trefoil
Knotted Clover
Lesser Sea-Spurrey
Rosy Garlic
Sea Arrowgrass
Sea Aster
Sea Club-Rush
Sea Milkwort
Sea Plantain
Sea Purslane
Slender Thistle
Wall-Rue
and Welted Thistle

Just another Day

But there is alas, no such thing, as 'Just Another Day'. That was never possible after 9 June 2010 when the 'Long Wait' began.

But invariably something 'Magical' happens each time we go out; the 9 June 2016 was no exception.

And Wow; as we were walking back to the Car after a Long, Long Trek across the Crossness Nature Reserve and the Surrounding area, a Large Skipper Butterfly (our second sighting of the day) seemingly appeared out of nowhere, settled on a Red Clover just in front of us for long enough for us to manage a few pictures before seemingly disappearing into thin air!

Thank You ...

Of Orchids

During July-2015 we chanced upon a known population of Pyramidal Orchids flowering in the Crayford Rough area viz.

They were the first Orchids we had ever seen locally; not that we had actually seen many Orchids anywhere before.

And today, following a trip to the Dump (Thames Road), we visited the nearby Thames Road Wetland. We were aware that a Bee Orchid had recently been seen there; and Yippee, we were super-fortunate enough to come across it viz.

We were surprised to see how tall the Plant was, being under the impression that Bee Orchids grew to a height of just a few inches and were probably super-difficult to see.