May 26th
This afternoon I was sitting in my garden with my binoculars hoping for a raptor or two to fly over and while trying to make sure my binoculars were in focus I honed in on a Collared Dove sitting in an evergreen tree at the end of my garden. As I looked at the Collared Dove I noticed a Starling partially hidden by foliage next to it. It appeared to have a jet black head and an unusual sheen on its back which on closer inspection was not shine but pink feathers! It was an adult Rose-coloured Starling (167th) and only the second one to be seen in the Reculver area. I managed to take a few shots against the sky but it soon flew off but Matt refound in another garden about 100 metres away an hour later and it was then seen intermittently until dusk.

Adult Rose-coloured Starling

Back at a misty and drizzly Reculver this morning we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour and the Oyster Farm as the drizzle cleared and the sun came out. We recorded 7 Whitethroats, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Cuckoo, 8 Skylarks, 3 Grey Herons, 1 Tufted Duck, 8 Mute Swans, 25 Mallard, 2 Little Egrets, 1 pair of Teal, 24 Carrion Crows, 8 Oystercatchers, 1 Whimbrel, 3 Great Black-backed Gulls, 7 Turnstone, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 4 Ringed Plovers, 6 Linnets, 3 Shelduck, 2 Gannets E and 1 Common Tern.

Mute Swan family with 1 normal and 1 "Polish" morph cygnet