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Wednesday, 1 January 2020

January 1st - 101 species
As usual we spent the first day of a new year birding on the Marsh to see how many species we could see and ended as it was getting dark on 90 species. Conditions were ideal as it was a windless day that began with early sunshine but then turned cloudy.
The first bird of the day was quite a rarity for the area. As Matt drove over to pick me up he stopped at Reculver and heard a Tawny Owl calling.
We then drove to  Chamber's Wall and walked out onto the Marsh as it began to get light and counted 2 Water Rails, 2 Grey Partridges, 4 Yellowhammers, 4 Tree Sparows, 2 Chiffchaffs, 3 Cetti's Warblers, 7 Linnets, 1 Common Buzzard, 7 Teal, 4 Corn Buntings and 2 Fieldfares.
Our next stop was Reculver where we had a look at the sea and then walked inland. We saw 1 Black-throated Diver sitting offshore, a species we didn't record at all last year, 6 Red-throated Divers, 120 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 3 Green Sandpipers, 12 Teal, 3 Shoveler, 1 Tufted Duck, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Jay, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 female Goosander, 1 Cetti's Warbler and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.
We spent the next couple of hours walking from Shuart to the sea and back via Brooksend and Netherhale. Species we recorded here included 6 Common Buzzards, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Ring-necked Parakeets, 2 Jays, 1 Chiffchaff, 6 Gadwall, 3 Marsh Harriers, 31 Corn Buntings, 2 Grey Wagtails, 1 Stonechat, 40 Golden Plovers, 2 Curlew, 1 Little Egret, 2 Great White Egrets, 4 Grey Herons, 1 male Goosander, 1 Shelduck, 4 Little Grebes, 50 Lapwings, 4 Yellowhammers, 1 Barn Owl being mobbed by 4 Jays and 1 Firecrest.
This aftenoon was a bit of a struggle having seen so many species in the morning but we did manage to see 21 Shelduck, 1 Black Redstart, 1 Shag, 1 Short-eared Owl and 1 Rock Pipit.

Marc Heath and Julian and Alex Perry were also out all day and their highlights included 1  Woodcock, 1 Black-throated Diver, 1 Shag, 1 Purple Sandpiper, 10 Tree Sparrows, 13 Yellowhammers, 1 Merlin, 1 male Goosander, 1 Great White Egret, 4 Short-eared Owls, 65 White-fronted Geese flying N at Brooksend, 1 ring-tailed Hen Harrier and 3 Firecrests.
I met Chris Tedder at Reculver in the afternoon and during the day she had seen Sparrowhawk, Redwing, Pochard, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Little Owl, species that we had not recorded taking the days total for all seven of us to an impressive 101 species.

Sunrise at Chamber's Wall

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