January 30th
For a change of scenery today Matt, Anne and I visited the Dungeness area where on a bright but chilly morning we managed to identify 70 species of birds. Highlights included 6 Pink-footed Geese, 4 Tundra Bean Geese, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 17 Goldeneye, 1 Black-necked Grebe, 4 Cattle Egrets and 3 Great White Egrets.
January 29th
On a beautiful winter's morning we walked from Reculver to Coldharbour and back. We saw 980 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 7 Mute Swans, 1 Common Buzzard, 3 Great Black-backed Gulls, 12 Mallard, 2 Cetti's Warblers, 30 Carrion Crows, 2 Goldfinches, 8 Oystercatchers, 4 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Turnstone, 3 Little Grebes, 1 Little Egret, 10 Meadow Pipits, 3 Red-throated Divers, 3 Shelduck and 1 Pale-bellied Brent Goose flying E at the Towers with Dark-bellied Brents.
This morning Matt was also out birding and walked from Shuart to Plumpudding and Coldharbour and back. He recorded 2 Redwing, 3 Marsh Harriers, 8 Cetti's Warblers, 1 Firecrest, 60 Greylag Geese, 2 Teal, 1 Raven (105th), 2 Red-throated Divers, 27 Curlew, 200 Oystercatchers, 40 Grey Plover, 60 Dunlin, 40 Sanderling, 37 Redshank, 3 Snipe, 3 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Little Grebes, 2 Little Egrets, 1,200 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Pale-bellied Brent Goose and 1 Common Buzzard.
 |
| Pale-bellied Brent Goose - Matt Hindle |
January 27th
On yet another windy morning an hour at the Towers only produced 450 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Gannet W, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Red-throated Diver W.
At lunchtime Matt found 2 Russian White-fronted Geese south of Reculver.
 |
| Russian White-fronted Geese - Matt Hindle |
January 25th
The overnight forecast for this morning was rain but in the event the rain had moved east by 0730 leaving a sunny but chilly winter's morning. We saw 360 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 14 Mallard, 1 male Snow Bunting, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Oystercatcher, 30 Carrion Crows, 4 Sanderling, 2 Redshank and 5 Ringed Plovers.
January 22nd
Matt was out in the rain this morning and walked from Reculver to Coldharbour and back. He counted 2 Stonechats, 42 Great Crested Grebes, 16 Golden Plovers, 1,050 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Barnacle Geese first reported on the 20th (104th), 14 Wigeon, 3 Shelduck, 2 Little Grebes, 1 Little Egret, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Teal, 170 Corn Buntings and 37 Mallard.
January 20th
This morning we walked along the seawall from Reculver to Coldharbour. Birds we saw included 1 Common Buzzard, 1,550 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 3 Stonechats, 3 Ringed Plovers, 27 Oystercatchers, 6 Redshank, 2 Sanderling, 14 Mallard, 3 Great Black-backed Gulls, 3 Fieldfares, 2 Turnstone, 2 Shelduck, 4 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Little Grebes, 1 Green Woodpecker, 65 Corn Buntings, 14 Wigeon, 1 Curlew and 3 Snow Buntings on the beach 400 metres east of the Towers.
 |
| Snow Buntings - David Elliott |
January 19th
We walked at Reculver on a raw and overcast morning and saw 1 Little Egret, 150 Woodpigeons, 3 Redwing, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 76 Mallard, 32 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 4 Teal, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 6 Little Grebes, 104 Coot, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Wigeon, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Redshank, 3 Water Rails, 12 Chaffinches, 1 Cetti's Warbler and 4 Egyptian Geese.
January 18th
It was another cold and overcast morning as we walked at Reculver and recorded 91 Mallard, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 39 Gadwall, 1 Grey Heron, 62 Coot, 1 Redshank, 6 Little Grebes, 2 Mute Swans, 1 Shoveler, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Water Rail, 7 Teal, 1 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Cetti's Warbler and 110 Dark-bellied Brent Geese.
Derek Smith walked from Shuart to the embankment and on to Coldharbour and Plumpudding. His highlights were 2 Little Grebes, 9 Great Crested Grebes, 11 Grey Herons, 1 Shoveler, 9 Gadwall, 2 Teal, 31 Mallard, 1 female Marsh Harrier, 3 Common Buzzards, 1 Kestrel and 9 Cetti's Warblers.
At midday David Elliott found 3 Snow Buntings on the beach at Reculver.
January 17th
On an overcast and cold morning we walked out on to the Marsh at Reculver and saw 120 Chaffinches, 40 Linnets, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Golden Plover, 2 Tree Sparrows, 68 Mallard, 18 Teal, 16 Gadwall, 1 Green Woodpecker, 4 Little Grebes, 64 Coot, 1 Redshank, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Chiffchaff and 1 Kestrel.
Matt was out later and walked at Brooksend, Netherhale, Shuart and Plumpudding and saw 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Kestrel, 30 Chaffinches, 300 Rooks, 250 Jackdaws, 1,250 Stock Doves, 12 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 3 Corn Buntings, 1 Yellowhammer, 2 Water Rails, 1 Marsh Harrier, 3 Ring-necked Parakeets, 20 Linnets, 7 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Stonechats, 6 Grey Herons, 57 Greylag Geese, 2 Canada Geese with 3 hybrids, 6 Golden Plovers, 1 Peregrine and 2 Teal.
January 16th
It was calm and cloudy with the tide out as we walked from Reculver to the Wantsum outflow. We counted 1,350 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Mute Swans, 12 Redshank, 3 Stonechats, 66 Great Crested Grebes offshore, 1 Curlew, 10 Ringed Plovers, 58 Oystercatchers, 10 Mallard, 122 Corn Buntings, 1 Common Buzzard, 18 Linnets, 1 Grey Plover, 12 Golden Plovers, 6 Lapwings, 1 Great Black-backed Gull and 5 Wigeon.
January 15th
We decided to have a ringing session on the Marsh south of the railway this morning. It began sunny but fog soon spoiled the morning and we had packed away by 1000. With the limited visibility we only managed to see 30 Yellowhammers, 1 Golden Plover, 28 Corn Buntings and 13 Mute Swans.
Birds ringed 9: Yellowhammer 8, Dunnock 1.
 |
| Female Yellowhammer |
January 14th
It was still cold as we walked out onto the Marsh this morning and were greeted by a fantastic sunrise.
 |
| Sunrise from the top of Brook hill |
 |
| Corn Bunting |
January 13th
On a marginally less cold morning we walked from Reculver along the seawall to the Green Wall. It was relatively quiet but we did see 2 Stonechats, 1,300 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 4 Mute Swans, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Redshank, 1 Grey Plover, 10 Mallard, 21 Great Crested Grebes on the sea, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 52 Oystercatchers, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Snipe, 4 Reed Buntings, 15 Golden Plovers and 5 Moorhens.
This morning Matt walked from Reculver to Coldharbour and back along the embankment. He saw 2 Water Rails, 53 Mallard, 34 Teal, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 64 Gadwall, 64 Coot, 25 Tufted Duck, 110 Corn Buntings, 23 Skylarks, 2 Redshank, 28 Lapwings, 6 Yellowhammers, 7 Stonechats, 4 Snipe, 2 Green Sandpipers, 1 Little Egret, 11 Wigeon, 7 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Common Buzzards, 2 Kestrels, 73 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Red-throated Diver, 3 Gannets, 1,300 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 11 Golden Plovers, 1 Kingfisher, 29 Mute Swans, 2 Marsh Harriers, 5 Grey Partridges, 6 Tree Sparrows, 1 Woodcock, 30 Stock Doves, 25 Reed Buntings and 1 Sparrowhawk.
Derek Smith was also out this morning and birded at Shuart, Plumpudding and Brooksend. He counted 29 Greylag Geese, 1 Russian White-fronted Goose, 8 Grey Herons, 1 Water Rail, 38 Stock Doves, 1 Fieldfare, 12 Long-tailed Tits, 6 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Marsh Harriers, 4 Kestrel, 3 Common Buzzards, 9 Redshank, 4 Lapwings and 1 Golden Plover.
 |
| Russian White-fronted Goose - Derek Smith |
This afternoon we found 4 Egyptian Geese feeding in a winter wheat field near Reculver,
