January 24th
On an overcast but much milder morning we walked from Reculver to Coldharbour and back. Virtually all the local Dark-bellied Brent Geese were in the same field at Coldharbour and an accurate count gave a total of 1,146 birds. Other birds seen included 6 Mute Swans, 72 Cormorants, 88 Oystercatchers, 2 Curlew, 8 Grey Plovers, 9 Redshank, 4 Turnstone, 22 Ringed Plovers, 46 Mallard, 32 Linnets, 2 Stonechats, 1 Grey Heron, 5 Shelduck, 2 Great Crested Grebes and 2 Little Grebes.
In the evening, at 2000, Matt found a Long-eared Owl sitting in a tree beside Reculver Lane.