I "brought av/ay a handful and dried them to bring home; they 

 shxTi veiled up to tiny black scales, but when put in water a 

 fortnight later they svvelled up to their original size evidently 

 unaffected by dryings 



They 7/ere identified by the British Museum as Nostoc^ 

 pruniforroe Ag, a widespread but not very common inhabitant of Isikes 

 smd ponds, and can grow to about the size of a hen's egg» 



Vera F„Po Day, 



SEALS miAR FAVERSHBf 



On September 7th, the Kent Field Club, to which several of 

 our members belong, met at Faversham to visit the salt riiarshes. 



After crossing the high stone sea v>/alls, newly erected since 

 the disastrous floods of 1953, one of the party, v/hile watching 

 birds through his binoculars, saw a seal on a partly submerged 

 sandbank in the channel betv/een the Isle of Sheppey and the 

 mainland. Presently three others swam up; Vv^e supposed that they 

 were a family, father, mother and two pups, as two y/ere much 

 smaller than the others. (Or fwo mothers with pups? Does father 

 go along with the family? Ed,) 



We took turns at the binoculars, but could not see the seals 

 in much detail, as they were fully a mile out in the channel. It 

 was lov/ tide, and no boats v/ere about; the seals were still there 

 when v»'e left an hour later. 



Although seals are occasionally reported near Dungeness, I a 

 am told that virithin living memory no seals have been seen so far 

 up the Estuary, 



Vera F.P.Eay. 



13 



