So two weeks ago we had a meeting at Northward Hill of the RSPB Medway Local Groups committee for Public Events for the planned Family Fun Day on Monday the 30th of July,

After discussing the finer points of H and S alongside refreshments and walk-leading etc we repaired to the barn to discuss practicalities ie tea urns and table layouts.

I raised the possibility of using the day to promote my two passions of plastic cleanups on the River Thames and Saving Lodge Hill from Medway Councils mad-cap scheme of dumping 2,000 houses on the most precious of the Uk's habitats for Nightingale,  and as a  consequence leading to its designation some years ago as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Into the car-park and the first butterfly I saw was a Painted Lady, albeit briefly.

Up at Sweeney Viewpoint, I saw three more painted ladies, Amber, Barbera and May, gaily dressed in hippyesque garb with offerings to the sun including Honey Mead clearly they were Pagans celebrating the Summer Solstice

So it just goes to show there is never a dull moment at the wonderful RSPB Northward Hill Reserve, Painted Lady Butterflies, painted lady Sun-worshippers or the red Butterfly, actually a day-flying moth called a Cinnabar

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The North Kent Marshes are a very special area and worth preserving at all cost.