February 24th

The weather this morning was superb with a light westerly wind, sunshine and the temperature 15 degrees centigrade. I walked at Reculver and saw 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Red-legged Partridges, 2 Skylarks, 1 Kestrel, 56 Coot, 3 Mute Swans, 22 Mallard, 16 Gadwall, 6 Teal, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Green Sandpipers, 2 Grey Herons, 5 Tufted Duck, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe, 10 Blackbirds, 2 Long-tailed Tits and a Red Kite that Matt had seen 20 minutes before flying W over the Wantsum outflow.

Coot

 Matt was also out this morning and walked from Reculver along the seawall to Plumpudding and back along the embankment. He counted 954 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 19 Cetti's Warblers, 13 Grey Heron, 2 Stonechats, 1 Red Kite flying W (123rd), 1 Peregrine, 2 Curlew, 5 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Egret, 3 Little Grebe, 7 Redshank, 27 Golden Plovers, 2 Red-throated Divers, 3 Chiffchaffs, including 2 singing birds, 40 Greylag Geese, 1 Yellowhammer, 3 Marsh Harriers, 2 Egyptian Geese, 1 Goldcrest, 20 Redwings, 1 Common Buzzard, 4 Long-tailed Tits and 20 Corn Buntings. He also saw 2 Peacock butterflies. Later he saw a Redpoll (124th) at Shuart.

 February 23rd

It felt like spring this afternoon as I had a brief stroll at Reculver and saw 2 Red-legged Partridges, 12 Chaffinches, 36 Mallard, 1 Common Buzzard, 4 Redwing, 8 Blackbirds, 1 Grey Heron, 8 Tufted Duck, 9 Teal, 6 Gadwall, 52 Coot, 100 Dark-bellied Brent Geese out on the Marsh, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Cetti's Warbler and 2 Green Woodpeckers.

Red-legged Partridge

 February 21st

On a pleasant morning I walked along the seawall from Reculver and counted 568 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 21 Linnets, 4 Oystercatchers, 6 Redshank, 8 Ringed Plovers, 1 Snow Bunting briefly before it was flushed by a dog walker, 17 Mute Swans, 32 Corn Buntings, 40 Carrion Crows, 3 Mallard and 6 Meadow Pipits.

 February 18th

Matt had a seawatch at Minnis Bay this morning and counted 139 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 21 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit (122nd), 10 Red-throated Divers, 45 Grey Plovers, 4 Curlew, 1 Mediterranean Gull and 1 Shelduck. He also saw 42 Tufted Duck and 120 Teal at Brooksend.

Also this morning  a Great Northern Diver flew E at Reculver. 

 February 17th

It was cold and breezy this morning at Reculver but at least the sun was shining. My walk produced 107 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 9 Goldfinches, 24 Mallard, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 10 Teal, 28 Gadwall, 46 Coot, 6 Tufted Duck, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 10 Blackbirds, 1 Raven, 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Cetti's Warbler. 

 February 14th

With a fresh NNE wind blowing Matt, Dave Smith and I had a seawatch at Reculver between 0700 and 0900. We counted 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls E, 8 Red-throated Divers E, 416 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 3 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Grey Plovers W, 1 male Pintail E, 2 Little Gulls W (120th), 1 male Red-breasted Merganser E (121st), 1 Curlew W, 1 Gannet E and 80 Common Gulls E.

 February 13th

It was brighter than I had expected this morning as I had a short walk at Reculver. The first bird I heard and then saw was a first year male Black Redstart singing on the Towers. Other birds included 450 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 3 Linnets, 1 Oystercatcher, 22 Corn Buntings, 1 Redshank, 12 Cormorants and 2 Pied Wagtails.

 February 11th

I had a very uninteresting hour at Reculver this morning where all I saw was 5 Great Crested Grebes, 200 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 11 Oystercatchers E, 3 Curlew W, 2 Pied Wagtails and 33 Cormorants.

 February 10th

 Matt had a call today from a local farmer, Tim Smith, to say he had seen a Common Crane (119th) on his land but that it had flown north. Matt and I went this afternoon to see if we could find it again. After an hour's searching we saw it flying from Minnis Bay south towards the Thanet Way. This is the sixth record of this species in the area and is the twelfth bird.

Common Crane - Tim Smith 

Other birds we saw included 95 Fieldfares, 2 Common Buzzards, 2 Egyptian Geese, 10 Skylarks, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 1,000 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Sparrowhawk, 4 Ring-necked Parakeets, 21 Lapwings and 1 Green Woodpecker.

 February 9th

We received two ringing recoveries today The first was a first year Sedge Warbler we ringed on Reculver Marshes on 21st August 2022 and was controlled at Tour aux Moutons, Donges, Loire-Atlantique, FRANCE on 17th August 2025. This bird was 1,092 days old and was 507 km SSW of Reculver.

The second bird was a first year male Great Tit we ringed at Shingleton Farm, near Tilmanstone on 21st December 2025 and was controlled at Sandwich Bay on 8th February 2026 9 km NE.

 February 8th

Derek Smith was out this morning and walked from Shuart and along the embankment and back via Coldharbour and Plumpudding. Hr counted 3 Little Grebes, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Common Buzzard, 11 Magpies, 36 Fieldfares, 45 Redwings, 60 Blackbirds, 2 Stonechats, 8 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Firecrest and 6 Corn Buntings

I had a brief walk at Reculver this afternoon where I saw 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrels, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 4 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Mute Swans, 72 Coot, 1 Grey Heron, 16 Mallard, 4 Teal, 19 Gadwall, 12 Tufted Duck, 1 Wigeon, 1 Water Rail and 2 Skylarks.

 February 7th

I managed to avoid the rain this morning as I had a walk at Reculver and recorded 5 Chaffinches, 2 Skylarks, 3 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 9 Moorhens, 76 Coot, 58 Mallard, 32 Gadwall, 1 Water Rail, 1 Chiffchaff, 8 Tufted Duck, 2 Mute Swans, 2 Grey Herons, 1 Wigeon, 1 Woodcock and 1 Green Woodpecker. 

Dave Smith was also out this morning and walked from Reculver and counted 2 Shelduck, 1 Grey Plover, 14 Ringed Plovers, 3 Lapwings, 1 Curlew, 3 Turnstone, 3 Little Grebes, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Peregrine, 2 Skylarks, 1 Goldcrest, 3 Song Thrushes, 5 Redwings, 40 Fieldfares, 2 Black Redstarts, 2 Stonechats, 150 Chaffinches, 200 Linnets, 3 Snow Buntings, 14 Corn Buntings and 2 Yellowhammers.

 February 6th

On a showery afternoon we birded at Brooksend and Minnis Bay. Birds we saw included 77 Greylag Geese, 1 Canada Goose with 4 hybrids, 3 Barnacle Geese, 13 Herons, 1 Little Egret, 3 Marsh Harriers, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Stonechat, 1 Corn Bunting, 15 Redwings, 20 Blackbirds, 50 Cormorants, 3 Red-throated Divers and 28 Great Crested Grebe.

Today we received information concerning a juvenile Sedge Warbler we ringed at Shuart on July 11th. It was controlled 18 days later on July 29th at Trunvel, Treogat, Finistere, FRANCE and had flown 560 km SW.

Juvenile Sedge Warbler

 February 5th

All I managed today was a quick drive down to Reculver in the pouring rain where I saw 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Sparrowhawk.

 February 4th

I was out early this morning at Reculver and recorded 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Cetti's Warblers, 68 Coot, 12 Tufted Duck, 46 Mallard, 12 Gadwall, 14 Teal, 1 Shoveler, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Wigeon and 1 Common Buzzard.

During the afternoon Justin Sneddon took two photographs of a second winter Iceland Gull flying E at Minnis Bay (118th). This is only the tenth record of this species in the area. 

 

Second winter Iceland Gull - Justin Sneddon