June 18th
On a muggy morning we walked from Chamber's Wall to the Oyster Farm lagoons. We saw 16 Whitethroats, 3 Blackcaps, 1 adult Moorhen with 3 juveniles, 4 Goldfinches, 1 Common Tern, 12 Shelduck, 9 Skylarks, 6 Ringed Plovers, 3 Pied Wagtails, 4 Oystercatchers, 5 LIttle Egrets, 14 Mallard, 2 Gadwall, 2 Stonechats, 7 MUte Swans, 1 Grey Partridge, 5 Linnets and 2 Yellow Wagtails.

Yellow Horned Poppy

Yesterday I received information about one of the ten Long-tailed Tits we caught on June 14th at Shuart. It had originally been ringed at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory on 25th October 2016.

June 17th
There was not much to be seen as we walked from Reculver to Coldharbour this morning. Even though there was "a plague" of pollen beetles between Reculver and the Green Wall we managed to see 10 Linnets, 3 Mute Swans, 1 Blackcap, 6 Whitethroats, 3 Pied Wagtails, 8 Oystercatchers, 12 Cormorants, 2 Little Egrets, 22 Mallard, 2 Gadwall, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Ringed Plovers, 12 Shelduck, 1 Common Tern and 1 Redshank.

Dyer's Greenweed successfully spreading from the original plant

June 16th
On another very quiet morning with only resident birds seen we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour and back along the Green Wall and railway embankment. We recorded 6 Goldfinches, 2 Blackcaps, 7 Mallard, 13 Whitethroats, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 12 Shelduck, 6 Skylarks, 4 Coot, 3 Little Egrets, 13 Linnets, 2 Ringed Plovers, 4 Oystercatchers, 1 Stonechat, 2 Swifts W and 1 Cetti's Warbler.

Female Yellow Wagtail

June 15th
We had another ringing session this morning this time on the Marsh south of the railway where we saw 1 Common Buzzard, 10 Whitethroats, 3 Blackcaps, 1 Green Woodpecker, 4 Goldfinches, 1 Cuckoo, 6 Mallard, 3 Grey Partridges, 6 Sedge Warblers, 12 Lapwings W, 1 Common Tern, 12 Cormorants, 3 Yellow Wagtails and 12 Reed Warblers.

Birds ringed 17: Chaffinches 2, Reed Warbler 6, Blackcap 1, Whitethroat 5, Dunnock 2, Blackbird 1.

June 14th
We spent a much more pleasant morning ringing at Shuart where we saw 2 Red-legged Partridges, 12 Blackcaps, 1 Turtle Dove, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Whitethroats, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Ring-necked Parakeets, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Greenfinches, 5 Swifts, 6 Goldfinches, 14 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Common Buzzard and 2 Kestrels. We also found 2 Norfolk Hawkers.

Birds ringed 44: Long-tailed Tit 9, Wren 2, Great Tit 9, Blackcap 9, Blue Tit 8, Robin 1, Chaffinch 1, Dunnock 2, Song Thrush 1, Blackbird 2.

Juvenile Robin

June 13th
The highlight on a very showery morning of our walk from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour was a movement of 69 Swifts flying low W around the showers in the space of 20 minutes. Other birds we saw include 2 Goldfinches, 4 Linnets, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 12 Shelduck, 2 Little Egrets, 6 Oystercatchers, 2 Ringed Plovers, 8 Turnstone, 1 Common Tern and 1 Cetti's Warbler.

Shelduck family

June 12th
With heavy rain threatened we got away with a few drips on our walk this morning from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour. We counted 3 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Cuckoos, 4 Goldfinches, 1 Moorhen with 1 juvenile, 6 Whitethroats, 8 Skylarks, 2 Coots with 6 juveniles, 1 Common Tern, 3 Little Egrets, 2 Shelduck with 10 ducklings, 5 Linnets, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 5 Turnstone, 6 Ringed Plovers, 6 Oystercatchers, 1 Redshank and 1 Blackcap.

June 11th
On a much better morning with even the glimpse of the sun we walked from Reculver to Coldharbour and back. There wasn't a great deal about but we did mange to record 2 Goldfinches, 4 Pied Wagtails, 6 Whitethroats, 13 Oystercatchers, 3 Little Egrets, 9 Mute Swans, 7 Cormorants, 11 Linnets, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Shelduck, 10 Ringed Plovers, 11 Mallard, 4 Tursnstone, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Kestrel, 2 Mediterranean Gulls and 15 Sand Martins.

The male of a pair of Oystercatchers

June 10th
Today was a washout with virtually continuous heavy rain. The only birds of note were 11 Swifts hunting for insects in the rain over a maize field near Reculver.

June 9th
The morning began with a very nice bird when Derek Smith had a male Golden Oriole flying W at 0615 from Shuart towards Chamber's Wall. Other birds he saw on his walk from Shuart and along the embankment to Coldharbour and Plumpudding between 0530 and 0900 included 1 Little Egret E offshore, 4 Cormnorants feeding offshore, 2 Sandwich Terns, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 12 Shelduck, 3 Tufted Ducks, 2 Dunlin, 2 Cuckoos, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 5 Cetti's Warblers, 26 Whitethroats, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Blackcaps, 26 Reed Warblers, 28 Sedge Warblers and 2 Chiffchaffs.
We walked along the seawall from Reculver to Coldharbour and recorded 2 Pied Wagtails, 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls, 1 Fulmar W, 4 Whitethroats, 11 Oystercatchers, 5 Little Egrets, 4 Linnets, 3 Little Egrets, 3 Shelduck, 1 Kestrel, 32 Mallard, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Sandwich Terns W, 1 immature Eider, 2 Common Terns, 4 Ringed Plovers, 1 Cuckoo and 1 Grey Partridge flying off the beach near Coldharbour. We also saw a Painted Lady butterfly.

Male Yellow Wagtail catching pollen beetles on the seawall

For the second year running, today we had at least 7 Long-horned Bees feeding on Nepeta or Catmint in our garden.

Male Long-horned Bee

June 8th
On a very blustery morning with showers threatened we walked at Reculver and then around Shuart and saw 7 Blackcaps. 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Cetti's Warblers, 1 Moorhen, 30 Sand Martins, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Whitethroats, 3 Goldfinches and 1 Swallow.

May 29th to June 6th  -  Arctic Norway and Finland
Anne and I have been away for the last nine days in Arctic Norway and Finland. We spent some time at Porsanger Fjord and then drove over to Varanger. Highlight was seeing 11 Lesser White-fronted Geese at Stabbursdalen which was a new species for me. We also saw an excellent range of Arctic breeding species.

Male Pine Grosbeak

Long-tailed Skua

Adult White-tailed Eagle

Red-necked Phalarope

Willow Grouse

Female Long-tailed Duck

Kittiwake

June 6th  
This morning Matt walked from Reculver to Chamber's Wall and back along the Green Wall and saw 3 Little Egrets, 1 first summer Mediterranean Gull, 1 Grey Plover, 41 Swifts, 100 Sand Martins, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Common Tern, 14 Shelduck, 5 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Common Buzzards and 3 Kestrels.

June 5th
Matt spent the morning ringing at Reculver where he saw 4 Cetti's Warblers, 1 Cuckoo, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Blackcaps, 6 Whitethroat, 8 Long-tailed Tits, 5 Chiffchaffs and 4 Jays.

Birds ringed 35: Long-tailed Tit 4, Chiffchaff 4, Blackcap 3, Blue Tit 1, Whitethroat 5, Robin 3, Reed Warbler 2, Cetti's Warbler 2, Dunnock 3. Song Thrush 2, Blackbird 4, Jay 2.


Terry Wilson was out at the eastern end of the Marsh and saw 12 Shelduck, 30 Swifts W, 2 Oystercatchers, 1 Redshank and 1 Marsh Harrier.

Shelduck family - Terry Wilson

May 31st
Matt had a walk at Reculver this morning and found it very quiet. He recorded 2 Cuckoos, 10 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Little Egrets, 2 Shelduck, 3 Swifts, 1 Kestrel, 1 Gadwall, 1 Fulmar, 6 Swallows, 2 Grey Partridges, 1 Cetti's Warbler and 1 Blackcap.

May 30th
Chris Tedder walked from Shuart to the railway embankment and recorded 2 Common Buzzards, 5 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Whitethroats, 1 Grey Partridge and 28 Swifts flying W. She also found 4 Small Blue butterflies.

Small Blue - Chris Tedder