July 31st
On a sunny afternoon we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour and counted 5 Whitethroats, 48 Linnets, 2 Mute Swans, 8 Goldfinches, 3 Little Egrets, 1 Pied Wagtail, 52 Oystercatchers, 1 Whimbrel, 5 Turnstones, 24 Ringed Plovers and 1 Bar-tailed Godwit.
We also saw 1 Clouded Yellow.

Oystercatchers

July 30th
This afternoon we walked from Reculver to Minnis Bay and counted 13 Common Terns, 1 Black Tern (168th*), 3 Gannets, 15 Little Egrets, 2 Grey Herons, 2 Shelduck, 8 Common Sandpipers, 8 Yellow Wagtails, 13 Sandwich Terns, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 27 Turnstone, 42 Ringed Plovers, 23 Oystercatchers, 8 Linnets, 7 Sanderling, 1 Redshank and 28 Whimbrel, We also saw 3 Painted Ladies and 1 Clouded Yellow.
This morning Marc Heath was out very early and walked to Coldharbour and recorded 20 Sand Martins, 15 Swifts, 1 Grey Heron, 8 Redshank, 6 Stock Doves, 2 Whitethroats, 17 Little Egrets, 5 Mallard, 1 Kestrel, 8 Yellow Wagtails, 20 Oystercatchers, 2 Turnstone, 3 Sandwich Terns, 6 Mediterranean Gulls, 6 Ringed Plovers and 3 Common Sandpipers.

* With the removal of Pine Bunting from the Reculver list the year total reverted to 167 but Black Tern brought it back to 168.

July 29th
With a very blustery wind blowing and the tide out there wasn't much to be seen as we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour before dropping in at Reculver on the way home. We recorded 4 Goldfinches, 5 Grey Partridges, 1 Blackcap, 18 Linnets, 4 Mallard, 1 Coot, 9 Little Egrets, 2 Whitethroats, 2 Oystercatchers, 2 Ringed Plovers, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 adult Common Gull and 1 Green Woodpecker.
This afternoon, in the wind and the rain, Matt walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour and Plumpudding and counted 26 Whimbrel, 20 Common Terns, 12 Sandwich Terns, 3 Common Sandpipers, 6 Turnstones, 3 Mediterranean Gulls and 8 Little Egrets.


I received this from the secretary of the British Birds Rarity Committee today. A bit disappointing but not a complete surprise.

Just writing to let you know that this bird has been accepted by BBRC as a Pine Bunting but with some Yellowhammer influence – as indicated by the yellowish edges to the primary wing feathers that are discernible in the photos. A ‘pure’ Pine Bunting has clean white edges to those feathers.  We’ve had a few like this in Britain over the years – hybrids arise because the two species overlap in range further east.  Your record is therefore due to be published in the annual BBRC report, but under Pine Bunting x Yellowhammer.

July 28th
At last a change in the weather after last night's thunderstorms and rain. This morning we walked from Minnis Bay to Reculver in cooler conditions with a freshening south west wind and saw 16 Whimbrel W, 17 Little Egrets, 13 Common Terns W, 3 Redshank, 13 Swifts W, 12 Swallows, 1 Sparrowhawk, 21 Ringed Plovers, 5 Linnets, 4 Whitethroats, 4 Oystercatchers, 11 Mallard, 7 Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Sanderling, 35 Carrion Crows, 1 Willow Warbler, 5 Common Sandpipers, 2 Yellow Wagtails and 15 Turnstone.

July 27th
We arrived early at Chamber's Wall this morning in the unsuccessful attempt to miss the heat and humidity. We walked up to Coldharbour and managed to see 7 Whitethroats, 4 Goldfinches, 2 Turtle Doves, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 62 Linnets, 4 Oystercatchers, 1 juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 12 Little Egrets, 3 Whimbrel, 1 Grey Plover, 11 Ringed Plovers, 1 Redshank, 22 Carrion Crows, 7 Turnstone, 5 Mute Swans, 1 Blackcap and 6 Long-tailed Tits.

Moulting Carrion Crow

July 26th
There was little change in the birds or the hot weather as we walked from Reculver to Coldharbour this morning. Birds we saw included 1 Green Woodpecker, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Pied Wagtails, 6 Cormorants, 5 Redshank, 4 Little Egrets, 1 Grey Heron, 17 Linnets, 4 Ringed Plovers, 4 juvenile Mediterranean Gulls, 5 Turnstones, 5 Oystercatchers, 23 Mallard, 4 Common Sandpipers, 1 Whitethroat and 1 Whimbrel W.

July 25th
Once again a NW breeze off the sea made the early morning bearable as we walked from Reculver to Coldharbour on another scorcher. We counted 18 Linnets, 8 Redshank, 4 Grey Herons, 6 Little Egrets, 16 Turnstone, 6 Oystercatchers, 1 Whimbrel, 2 Green Sandpipers, 3 juvenile Mediterranean Gulls, 1 Stonechat, 6 Ringed Plovers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 7 Skylarks, 1 Common Buzzard, 61 Carrion Crows, 4 Whitethroats, 3 Goldfinches, 1 Kestrel and 2 Sandwich Terns W.
We also found our first Clouded Yellow of the year.

Clouded Yellow

July 24th
One of the advantages of living near the coast in heatwave conditions like this is that there is often a cooling sea breeze. This was the case this morning as we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour however it had warmed up significantly by the time we returned to our car. It is still relatively quiet here but we did manage to see 7 Goldfinches, 5 Mute Swans, 4 Whitethroats, 7 Oystercatchers, 61 Linnets, 10 Little Egrets, 22 Swallows W, 1 Whimbrel, 3 Redshank, 1 juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 5 Turnstone, 12 Ringed Plovers, 2 Pied Wagtails, 1 Grey Heron, 47 Carrion Crows, 1 Bullfinch, 10 Skylarks, 2 Grey Partridges and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

July 23rd
With the hot and humid weather continuing we arrived early and spent limited time ringing at Shuart this morning. Birds we saw included 3 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Greenfinches, 2 Blackcaps, 12 Goldfinches, 3 Whitethroats, 4 Mallard, 9 Linnets, 24 Lapwings, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Yellow Wagtail.

Birds ringed 16: Wren 1, Reed Warbler 11, Whitethroat 3, Blackcap 1.

July 22nd
We spent a hot and humid morning ringing at Reculver where we recorded 2 Goldcrests, 3 Sparrowhawks, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcaps, 3 Whitethroats, 10 Sand Martins, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 15 Reed Warblers, 2 Jays and 1 Garden Warbler.

Birds ringed 24: Wren 3, Reed Warbler 7, Whitethroat 2, Chaffinch 1, Great Tit 7, Blue Tit 1, Robin 1, Dunnock 1, Sparrowhawk 1.

Juvenile male Sparrowhawk

This afternoon Derek Smith walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour along the River Wansum looking for dragonflies. He saw 60 Red-eyed Damselflies, 35 Small Red-eyed Damselflies, 2 Black-tailed Skimmers, 30 male Ruddy Darters, 3 Brown Hawkers and 1 male Variable Damselfly only the second he's seen in the area.

Red-eyed Damselfly - Derek Smith

Small Red-eyed Damselfly - Derek Smith

Male Ruddy Darter - Derek Smith

Variable Damselfly - Derek Smith

July 21st
We spent a sunny morning ringing on the Marsh south of the railway and saw 10 Goldfinches, 46 Mallard flying S, 1 Corn Bunting, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Willow Warblers, the first of the autumn, 12 Whitethroats, 1 Green Woodpecker, 15 Linnets, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 15 Reed Warblers, 13 Sedge Warblers and 1 Grey Heron.

Birds ringed 46: Willow Warbler 1, Linnet 4, Grasshopper Warbler 1, Sedge Warbler 10, Reed Bunting 5, Reed Warbler 13, Whitethroat 8, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Chaffinch 1, Dunnock 1, Blackbird 1.

Juvenile Grasshopper Warbler

Derek Smith was out between 0500 and 0900 and walked from Shuart to Plumpudding and Coldharbour. Birds he saw included 15 Little Egrets, 3 Sandwich Terns, 6 Common Terns, 1 Marsh Harrier, 4 Common Sandpipers, 4 Whimbrel, 2 Dunlin, 8 Reed Warblers and 2 Blackcaps.

July 20th
On a cloudy morning that even had a few drips of rain we had a ringing session at Shuart where we saw 2 Grey Partridges, 5 Blackcaps, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 14 Goldfinches, 2 Turtle Doves, 9 Whitethroats, 8 Sedge Warblers, 30 Reed Warblers, 1 Whimbrel, 3 Kestrels, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Little Owl, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker and 1 Marsh Harrier.

Birds ringed 38: Wren 2, Reed Warbler 24, Whitethroat 5, Sedge Warbler 5, Blue Tit 1, Blackcap 1.

July 19th
On an even more humid and hot morning we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour and visited Shuart on the way home. Birds we saw included 14 Whitethroat, 6 Goldfinches, 32 Linnets, 5 Yellow Wagtails, 1 Whimbrel W, 9 Oystercatchers, 1 Little Egret, 2 Ringed Plovers, 1 Redshank, 13 Mediterranean Gulls, 3 Blackcaps, 1 Turtle Dove, 6 Skylarks and 1 Green Woodpecker.

Juvenile Mediterranen Gull

Six-spotted Burnet Moth

July 18th
This morning we walked from Reculver to Coldharbour again and recorded 131 Sand Martins, 3 Swifts, 2 Pied Wagtails, 4 Whimbrel W, 20 Linnets, 14 Yellow Wagtails, 11 Redshank, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Hobby, 1 Kestrel, 15 Oystercatchers, 14 Little Egrets, 6 Ringed Plovers, 9 Mediterranean Gulls, 55 Carrion Crows, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Sandwich Terns, 3 Mallard, 2 Turnstone, 10 Meadow Pipits, 1 juvenile Stonechat and 1 Blackcap.

Sandwich Tern

July 17th
Although still sunny and warm there was a refreshing NW breeze blowing this morning as we walked along the seawall from Reculver to Coldharbour. We counted 3 Whitethroats, 10 Little Egrets, 8 Swallows W, 18 Linnets, 8 Redshank, 26 Mediterranean Gulls, 287 Black-headed Gulls, 10 Ringed Plovers, 2 Grey Herons, 8 Oystercatchers, 1 Kestrel, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 11 Mallard, 5 Turnstones, 1 Curlew and 46 Carrion Crows.

Ringed Plover

Moulting adult Mediterranean Gull