My Dad grew hops in Kent – and as summer eases into autumn, the chill early ‘hopping’ mornings and bright days take me back to the hectic weeks of hop picking. I plucked a small handful of hops from a bine draping itself through a hedge and scrubbled the hops between my hands to release the smell that, for me, is the essence of this time of year.
The year is turning and the natural world is busying itself for colder times ahead. A few days ago, I was wandering around Dungeness and the early pulse of autumn migration is starting to quicken. I spent a happy half hour picking dunlins, little stints and ruff out from amongst the massed ranks of lapwings and golden plovers – wading birds that depend on wetlands like those at Dungeness. A little later four black terns arrived dipping and skipping over the water – a real sign of late summer.
Jack enjoyed the spectacle for a few minutes before his six (nearly seven) year old curiosity took him off looking for lizards (and here’s Jack’s lizard).
Later we watched whitethroats threading there way through the gorse as we sampled a few blackberries (not a good year I’m finding).
Over the next couple of months Dungeness will be an international hub for wildlife on the move – a vital link in the chain of life. The future of this special place will, once again, be in the spotlight as the public inquiry into proposals to expand next-door Lydd airport reconvene on Tuesday 6 September. Our expert witness will be giving some more evidence and then closing statements will be heard from 14 to 16 September.
We’ve been campaign for five years to get to this point ... and once the inquiry closes the inspector will make his recommendations to the Secretary of State who has the responsibility of the final decision. If you are based in the South East and would like to see the public inquiry in action – you can find the details here.
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