Sandgate Sandwich

Safety alerts, issued by car manufacturers, have been in the news a lot lately, and we had one about a potential fault on Pam's car last week. The problem is cars are so high tech now that there are an ever increasing number of clever things that can go wrong. It seems that the automatic hand brake, that come on when Pam's automatic is in park, could potentially come on when the car is being driven. The computer that controls this function had to be reprogrammed at a main dealer and I took it to Folkstone today to get it done.

The garage wasn't very far from the road that leads down to Sandgate and as I had to wait a while I took to opportunity for a stroll down and look at the sea, (in case it was different from the sea at St Margaret's). Sandgate is an attractive little town (or village?) and although the beach isn't sandy there's an easy path to walk along.

There were quite a few gulls around, mainly Herring Gulls, and I failed to find any of the less common species amongst them. In addition there were quite a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls. I always think that in autumn and winter Great black-backs look smarter than our other large gulls because they don't get streaky heads, even the first year bird looks quite dapper.

Just off shore a Sandwich Tern called loudly as it flew passed carrying a small fish.

Looking over the rocks the thin line of Littlestone and Greatstone, further along the coast disappeared into the mist as the sands reached the Dungeness peninsular.

On the way back to collect Pam's car I walked through Enbrook Park, the home of Saga, and I was delighted to find a very vocal Firecrest. As is too often the case with these little gems it was too active to get a photo, but it gave excellent views. Along the stream a pair of Grey Wagtails fed on the muddy edge. I don't know if this area gets any coverage but given it's position it would seem to have some potential, especially during the migration season.