The Lyons Share

A quick walk along the see front today produced a few surprises. I was hoping to see Hoary Stock which is common along the coast east of Brighton, whether the plants shown here are native or naturalised though is another matter, either way it's an addition to my list. I also added Wallflower which for some reason I had not ticked off too. I'm sure the Hoary Stock is more abundant east of the marina but we were pushed for time today, I will go back and get some better shots.

Walking along the promenade on Madeira Drive on a bank holiday weekend is not exactly peaceful but the strangest thing was a Reed Warbler, singing from a bush just metres away from hundreds of people. I have heard migrant Reed and Sedge Warblers in some funny places in Brighton before at this time of year.but this was ridiculous. It was singing so quietly that I nearly walked straight passed it. It does make you think, why bother singing on migration like that? I guess the territorial urges are great, they do cross continents to get here!

This Common Broomrape got me excited, I thought perhaps I had stumbled upon Oxtongue Broomrape but I keyed it out using the very useful British Wildlife article from 2008, knew that would come in handy one day. Just the common one though but not something you see every day.