January 1st
We began birding in the dark in our quest to see as many species as possible to start 2017. The morning was damp and overcast but the first good bird seen was a Woodcock coming in to its daytime roost near Reculver.
At Shuart we recorded 1 Marsh Harrier, 9 Redwings, 2 Common Buzzards, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 3 Fieldfares, 10 Mallard, 1 Wigeon, 4 Teal and 2 Ring-necked Parakeets.
We then returned to Reculver where we had a seawatch and then walked inland. Birds we saw included 175 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Eider, 8 Gannets, 60 Common Scoter, 1 Gadwall, 2 Red-throated Divers, 1 Black Redstart at the Towers and 1 Rock Pipit. Inland we found 1 Common Buzzard, 3 Mallard, 10 Gadwall, 1 Tufted Duck, 10 Mute Swans, 1 Wigeon, 2 Corn Buntings, 3 Snipe, 1 Jay and 1 Green Sandpiper.
We finished the morning by walking from Chamber's Wall to Reculver in the drizzle seeing 5 Yellowhammers, 5 Redwings, 12 Fieldfares, 8 Corn Buntings, 350 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 10 Lapland Buntings, 1 Little Egret, 3 Shelduck, 4 Shoveler, 8 Wigeon, 50 Mallard, 2 Teal, 150 Carrion Crows, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 26 Ringed Plovers, 2 Red-throated Divers, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Snipe, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Lapwings and 1 Grey Heron.
Our morning's work produced 76 species.
Marc Heath and Julian and Alex Perry were also out all day and saw 13 species we did not: Pochard, Moorhen, Coot, Curlew, Turnstone, Barn Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stonechat, Chiffchaff, Bearded Tit, Long-tailed Tit and Tree Sparrow taking the day's total for the Marsh to 89 species.