January 18th
On a freezing but still morning we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour and on to the Oyster Farm lagoons. Birds we saw included 1 Short-eared Owl, 31 Corn Buntings, 7 Yellowhammers, 2 Redwings, 4 Coot, 424 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 12 Blackbirds, 23 Mallard, 2 Little Egrets, 20 Reed Buntings, 5 Shelduck, 4 Goldfinches, 14 Oystercatchers, 1 Curlew, 2 Snow Buntings, 7 Mute Swans, 3 Grey Plovers, 1 Redshank and 2 Stonechats.

Female Snow Bunting

January 17th
With a cold NW wind blowing this morning I spent an hour and a half seawatchng at the Towers. Most birds recorded were flying W and included 300 Herring Gulls, 1 adult "intermedius"  Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 first winter Yellow-legged Gull (102nd), 80 Black-headed Gulls, 18 Common Gulls, 10 Great Black-backed Gulls, 31 Kittiwakes, 35 Cormorants, 4 Red-throated Divers, 1 male Common Scoter, 1 Guillemot and 1 Great Crested Grebe sitting on the sea and 278 Dark-bellied Brent Geese flying down towards Thanet.

January 16th
On an unpleasant and overcast morning with a very blustery SW wind blowing we visted one or two sheltered spots on the Marsh but didn't see anything noteworthy. All we recorded was 2 Common Buzzards, 4 Goldfinches, 8 Mute Swans with the Black Swan still in attendance, 240 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 35 House Sparrows, 1 Kestrel, 250 Woodpigeons, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Gadwall and 1 Goldcrest.

Black Swan with Mute Swan

At Grenham Bay this morning Terry Wilson saw lots of Grey Plovers and some Curlew as well as 50 Dark-bellied Brent Geese and a Pergrine taking a Dunlin. There were also 50 Great Crested Grebes and at Minnis Bay, 40 Sanderling, 12 Redshanks and 5 Turnstones.

January 15th
It was another overcast morning as we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour and then on to the Oyster Farm. We recorded 2 Mute Swans, 15 Blackbirds, 2 Coot, 2 Corn Buntings, 1 Little Egret, 3 Shelduck, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Redshank, 18 Mallard, 1 adult male Peregrine hunting low along the tide line, 2 Stonechats feeding on insects disturbed by the Environment Agency bulldozer, 42 Carrion Crows, 2 Snow Buntings at Coldharbour, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Redwing and 1 Yellowhammer.

Female Stonechat feeding on the beach

January 14th
We had a relatively quiet seawatch at Reculver between 0740 and 0900. Birds flying E included 12 Oystercatchers, 31 Dark-bellied Brent Geese and 1 Shelduck and flying W we counted 86 Red-throated Divers, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 270 Herring Gulls, 1 Razorbill (100th), 5 Sanderling and 1 large auk.
We then walked inland and recorded 1 Goldcrest, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Gadwall (101st), 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Sparrowhawk.
This afternoon we walked around Shuart and saw 1 Kestrel, 18 Mute Swans, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrests, 2 Common Buzzards, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Redshank, 1 Water Rail and 1 Little Owl.

January 13th
With a very fresh westerly wind blowing and overcast conditions this morning we walked from Minnis Bay to Plumpudding. The tide was on the way out and we didn't see a great deal just 122 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Stonechats, 1 adult "graellsii" Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Sanderling, 45 Carrion Crows, 19 Mute Swans, 250 Cormorants, 1 Rock Pipit (99th) and 1 Curlew.
On the way home we dropped in at Shuart where we saw 8 Goldfinches, 1 Common Buzzard, 24 Mallard, 12 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrests and 2 Ring-necked Parakeets.

Adult winter plumaged  "graellsii" Lesser Black-backed Gull

January 12th
Matt was out on the Marsh in the dark at 0700 and had brief views of a Long-eared Owl (98th).
We met him later at Reculver and then we walked up to Coldharbour and recorded 1 Common Buzzard, 121 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Kestrel, 2 Redshank, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Mute Swans, 18 Oystercatchers, 2 Curlew, 2 Corn Buntings, 60 Cormorants, 2 Snow Buntings, 15 Mallard, 3 Shelduck, 1 Little Egret, 3 Stonechats, 34 Carrion Crows, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull W and 17 Goldfinches.