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Birds News and Updates 2011

Last update: Wednesday 31st August 2011 at 23-50hrs

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May 2011  Report has been Archived

Wednesday 31st August 2011 Goresehill & Stonyhill Wood Dover Area

A few hours were spent over at Goresehill & Stonyhill woods today, with one of my grandsons in tow, we meet Graham around 11-15hrs at his house, then went off to the woods the excises was mainly looking for Violet Helleborine, which we never found any in a two and a half hour search though the woods, Birds noted: Woodpigeons, Blackbirds, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Treecreeper's, Goldcrests, Chaffinches, Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tits,  Marsh Tits, Blackcaps, Willow Warblers, there was the point when the grandson disturbed a bird of pray and from his description it would fit Red Kite but not seen by Graham or myself, (Gadget)   

Tuesday 30th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I watched the falling tide from 16.30 – 17.00 this afternoon. 85 Sandwich Terns, 40+ Dunlin, 15 Ringed Plover, 4 Curlew Sandpiper (in the shallows near the old hover-pad), 2 Avocet (near the river-mouth), 2 Knot and 1 Greenshank went into the little black book. Err then I had to go home for tea so that’s it I’m sorry to say. (Andrew Lipczynski)

Tuesday 30th August 2011 Pegwell Bay & Sandwich Bay

We watched the incoming tide between 10.20 to 11.50 this morning and, despite there being few species of wader present, we did note the following:- 10 Sandwich Tern, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Avocet, 2 Kestrel,1 Hobby, 1 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 75 Redshank, 5 Swift , 500+ Oystercatcher , 15 Little Egret and 4 Grey Heron. A quick visit to Dickson’s Corner at Sandwich Bay on the way home produced 8 Whinchat. (Barry Woolhouse and Malcolm McVail)

Tuesday 30th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I watched between 06.45 and 11.00am today. Although there was a bit more going on today I certainly didn't stumble across anything too unusual. My notes were: 15 Little Egrets, 2 Avocets, 8 Whimbrel, 1 Greenshank, 25 Knot, 160 Dunlin, 65 Ringed Plover, 2 Hobby, 17 Swifts, 350 Swallows, 130 House Martins, 55 Sand Martins, 10 Sedge Warbler, 10 Reed Warbler, 6+ Lesser Whitethroats, 40+ Whitethroats, 35 Blackcaps and 24 Yellow Wagtails. (Phil M)

Tuesday 30th August 2011 Undisclosed location Thanet

I was pleased to see a pair of Hobby with two immature birds in tow. I'm almost sure they nested in this location last year. I watched them for about half an hour. The adults chased a Crow away from the site, whilst the immature pair called repeatedly.      (John Carnell)

Tuesday 30th August 2011 Kingsgate Area

29/8. Excluding Hirundines, an evening round at Kingsgate produced just one migrant – rather surprisingly a Wryneck! (F Solly)

Tuesday 30th August 2011 Minster Thanet

A mid-morning walk around the treatment works and along the river today, produced: 1 Juvenile Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrels. 100+ Swallows. 150 ish House Martins with a Sand Martin and a Swift mixed in. 20 Blackcaps, 1 Garden warbler, 5 Whitethroats, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Cetti’s Warblers, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 1 Yellow Hammer, 10 Robins, at lot of long tailed tits, a wonderful flock of about 150 Goldfinches, 1 Common Sandpiper and 2 Turtle Doves. (Amanda Parker)

Monday 29th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I had a wander around the Farm between 6.55 and 07.55 then had a many hour wander between there and Stone Lees - staying out until 13.15. I saw very little ... 2 Wheatears, 6+ Yellow Wagtails and a few Willow Warblers around the general Farm area plus single Swift, a few fly-over Yellow Wagtails, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Peregrine, 100 House Sparrows and a few more Willow Warblers. (Phil M)

Monday 29th  August 2011 Sandwich Bay Area & Restharrow Scrape

Two Ravens flew over the fields heading towards Pegwell and a Hobby flew over the Whitehouse area, Down on the Restharrow Scrape 9 Dunlin, 4 Little Stint, 2 Little-ringed Plovers, 3 Green Sandpipers, with Teal and Mallard, Mute Swan and Black-headed Gulls, 7 Meadow Pipits dropped in and 40 Linnets as i was walking back to the car a Reed Warbler popped up in the reeds along the path, (Gadget)

Monday 29th  August 2011 Grove Ferry

A morning at Grove Ferry venturing only as far as Marsh Hide. On the reserve this morning there were 4 Cetti’s Warblers, 223 Greylag Geese, 2 Canada Geese, 11 Green Sandpipers, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Greenshank and 5 Little Egrets. A Hobby flew out east in the early hours, a single Sparrowhawk was seen and 8 Marsh Harriers. The cattle fields at the end of Harrison’s Drove still holds 30+ Yellow Wagtails plus 6 Linnets were there but, there was no sign of any Whinchats or Stonechats along Middle Drove although there were 2 Whinchats from Marsh hide, but there were several Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs and Great Tits in the same bushes. Also at Marsh hide were 1 Wood Sandpiper, 8 Ruff and a Wheatear that was chased by a Kestrel. A Bittern flew into the Reeds and Reed Mace in front of the hide and 1 Turtle Doves was floating about. There were 7 Goldfinches along the track from Marsh hide and a few Sedge and Reed Warblers are still around. (Martyn Wilson)

Sunday 28th  August Grove Ferry / Stodmarsh NNR

Starting as usual at Grove Ferry and decided to complete the whole circuit today. Totals today were, 205 Greylag Geese from the ramp, 5 Cetti’s Warblers, 220 Lapwings, 10 Green Sandpipers, 3 Little Egrets, 3 Greenshank and 9 Marsh Harriers. There were 2 Sparrowhawks, 5 Water Rails, 9 Mute Swans, 2 Black-tailed Godwits and only 1 Yellow Wagtail that left the reeds by the ramp early morning. I didn’t get to Harrison’s until 11.15am and there were no Yellow Wagtails with the cattle by this time. There was a Little Grebe at Feast hide, a juvenile Greenfinch on the bird table at the boat moorings opposite the Oxbow and a few yards around the corner looking across to the railway fence line below the house with the ex-racing Greyhounds, or some may know as the house with the Eagle Owl, I was watching a couple of Lesser Whitethroats when a bird flew into the dead tree there. Putting the scope straight on to it I found myself looking a female/juvenile Serin. It only stayed for 8-10 seconds before flying off west. At the Water Meadows there was a Wood Sandpiper close in plus 9 Ruff as well as 5 of the Green Sandpipers and 28 Snipe. The lake at Stodmarsh held 72 Pochards and 41 Tufted Ducks, 3 Great-crested Grebes and several common ducks. A lot of Swallows and Sand Martins were feeding over the lake and a couple of House Martins were with them although there were a flock of 30 odd birds over the White House and cottages at the south end of Harrison’s Drove. A Tit flock was moving through the bushes lining the dyke alongside the fishing pools containing Blue, Great and Long-tailed as well as one or two Chiffchaffs and at least 1 Willow Warbler. There was a Song Thrush, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Goldfinches  and 5 or 6 Whitethroats in the Newborn's Farm bushes and from Marsh hide there were, 2 Turtle Doves, 1 Curlew, 5 Canada Geese, 1 Wheatear and 7 Stock Doves. Wandering up Middle Drove where we failed to connect with Whinchat yesterday, I came across a small party of 5 Whinchats and 2 juvenile Stonechats halfway between the public footpath gate and the orchard gate. As I walked the road between Middle and Harrison’s Droves I connected with 2 Swifts (won’t be seeing many of these for a while now) over Ivy House Farm. Other than an adult Greenfinch and a Green Woodpecker along Harrison’s Drove I didn’t add anything else (Martyn Wilson)

Saturday 27th  August 2011 Grove Ferry

I met Alan Ashdown at the entrance gate at 5.20 this morning, Alan having been there since 4.20am, and we made our way to the ramp. A Barn Owl came in low from the east and passed through the bottom of the ramp at 5.45 and on the pool were, 120 Greylag Geese, 5 Little Egrets, 100 Lapwings and 500ish Teal as well as a few Shoveler, Gadwall and Mallard. Getting there early means you get to see the Marsh Harriers leaving and this morning we saw 11 Marsh Harriers which were, 5 females, 2 Males & 4 juveniles. Only 7 Green Sandpipers noted today but there were 4 Little-ringed Plovers, 2 Ringed Plovers, 2 Greenshanks, 2 Black-tailed Godwits and a Ruff. A single Hobby was hawking the reeds at 6.05 and 15 Mute Swans flew out of the reserve. Still 30 odd Yellow Wagtails along Harrison’s Drove while the odd Reed & Sedge Warbler were seen as were  a couple of Bearded Tits while several small groups of Swallow and Martins moving through and at the Feast hide were 1 Garganey and 3 Little Grebes. Being joined by Sue Morton we later took a stroll along Middle Drove to look for Whinchats (unsuccessfully) and whilst here Alan spotted to Ravens coming over us at 11.45am. They circled above us for a bit before drifting off in the Newbons & Undertrees Farms direction. (Martyn Wilson)

Friday 26th August 2011 Minster Thanet

A first for the garden today in the shape of a very smart Redstart.. probably dodging the heavy showers, it has been taking meal worms from the bird table this afternoon alternating with the resident Robin. Also, between showers, 3 Common Buzzards floated by and 4 Sparrowhawks passed over flying with purpose. Greenfinch numbers have increased at the feeders and yet another brood of Blackbirds has fledged from the Privet hedge. (Amanda Parker)

Friday 26th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I watched (with various others) between 06.00 and 13.15, mainly concentrating on both tide cycles (in and out) then having a wander around the bushes. Between us we recorded the following: 20 Little Egrets, 63 Gannets, 12 Wigeon, 3 Shoveler, 40 Teal, 5 Common Scoter, 2 Common Buzzard, 2 Avocet, 2 Whimbrel, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 22 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Greenshank, 23 Grey Plover, 250 Golden Plover, 60 Ringed Plover, 35 Knot, 80 Dunlin, 40 Sanderling, 7 Curlew Sandpipers, 5 Common Sandpipers, 2 Little Stints, 2+ Sparrowhawk, 2 Common Buzzards, 1 Peregrine, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 250 Sandwich Tern, 40 Common Tern, 1 Arctic Tern, 5 Little Tern, 1 Black Tern, 37 Yellow Wagtails and 1 Whinchat. (Phil M)

Friday 26th  August 2011 Restharrow Scrape

Dark and raining heavily when I rolled up at 5.20 this morning, the light increased, the rain eased and revealed 15 Teal, 3 Mallards, 1 Spotted Redshank, 6 Dunlin, 1 Little Stint, 3 Green Sandpipers and 2 Little-ringed Plovers. The Grey Heron was back but left before 6.00 and there was a single Greenshank, 1 Curlew, 2 Snipe, 1 Ringed Plover and 3 Moorhens. (Martyn Wilson)

Friday 26th August 2011 Grove Ferry

Arriving at Grove at 6.25am with the rain easing off there was little to suggest any grounded migrants, in fact, it looked like a clear out. The Green Sandpiper numbers were down to 10 while there were 3 Ruff, 1 Little-ringed Plover, 4 Black-tailed Godwits, 5 Water Rails, 507 Teal, 44 Gadwall and 2 Garganey. A female Marsh Harrier flew out soon after my arrival and a smart light (but tatty) male passed the Feast hide early morning. There were 2 Grey Herons, 3 Little Egrets, 2 Little Grebes, 2 Greenshank, 1 Snipe and 53 Yellow Wagtails. No sign of yesterday’s Marsh Sandpiper but excitement came when a large juvenile female Peregrine Falcon flushed the pool while carrying prey, after trying to end its life but harassed by two Crows the Peregrine took flight lost grip and released a juvenile Green Woodpecker. The Woodpecker flew low calling loudly with the Peregrine in pursuit but, gave up the chase. One lucky Green Woodpecker I’d say. Also today there were 170 Lapwings, 3 Ringed Plovers, 6 Goldfinch and 2 Linnets while a quick look at Collard’s revealed 1 female Marsh Harrier, 1 Hobby, 1 Common Tern and 26 Great-crested Grebes. (Martyn Wilson)

Thursday 25th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I had a long, gruelling, annoying wander around the entire area from mid morning until mid afternoon seeing: 10 Little Egrets, 8 Wigeon, 11 Teal, 9 Sanderling, 12 Dunlin, 20 Ringed Plovers, 1+ Peregrine, 1 Marsh Harrier, 130 Sandwich Terns, 20 Common Terns, 1 Little Tern, 2 Black Terns, 15 Yellow Wagtails, 7 Wheatears, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and 8 Willow Warblers. (Phil M)

Thursday 25th August 2011 Restharrow Scrape

A 5.20 start at Restharrow this morning with very little to be revealed, there were 14 Teal but only 2 Mallards and there were 4 Green Sandpipers, 2 Snipe 2 Little-ringed Plovers, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank and 7 Dunlin. No sign of the ever present Grey Heron today but the 3 Moorhens are still on show and a Grey Partridge called from beyond Restharrow boundaries. (Martyn Wilson)

Thursday 25th August 2011 Grove Ferry

As I rolled up to the entrance at Grove at 6.20 today a juvenile Marsh Harrier drifted over the car towards the Ash Levels/Minster Marshes, another two juveniles a female and a distant un-aged Marsh Harrier were also noted. There were 16 Green Sandpipers at the Grove end plus 6 Water Rails, 4 Little Egrets, 2 Ruff, 3 Ringed Plovers and 2 Greenshanks. A one legged juvenile Mediterranean Gull flew in with a small flock of Black-heads and 2 adult Lesser Black-backed. A Crossbill came close over the ramp from the north circled over me and headed back north calling as it went and there were a flock of 80ish House Martins over the far pools. A lesser Whitethroat was with Reed and Sedge Warblers around the bushes surrounding the Feast hide and from the hide there were 1 Garganey, 3 Little Grebes, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, the bulk of the Green Sandpipers (12) and a Fox. On arrival at Harrison’s Drove hide I scoped a small ‘Greenshank’ like wader with 2 Green Sandpipers feeding at the far end. The small size, thin straight bill and long yellowy legs  all pointed to an adult Marsh Sandpiper that I watched for 15-20 minutes before it flew over to one of the unseen back pools calling as it went. Sadly Sue arrived just minutes after its departure and it never showed again by the time I left at 12.45pm. The last Marsh Sandpiper in the valley was found by Craig Sammels, whom I was with at the time, who picked it up in flight on call, with 3 Spotted Redshanks on the 17^th September 2001 at the very same pool (Harrison’s) before it eventually settled in the now unviewable pool to the right of the ramp. Also today there were 324 Teal, 16 Goldfinches, 4 Linnets, 12+ Yellow Wagtails, 1 Bittern, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 5 Stock Doves a trickle of Swallows and a Kestrel. (Martyn Wilson)

Wednesday 24th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I made two visits today initially arriving at 05.45am and watching the tide for a few hours before spending an hour and a half having a look around the bushes between the Country Park and the farm/cliff top until 10.30. The highlights were: 11 Canada Geese, 10 Wigeon, 4 Shoveler, 1 Teal, 1 Common Scoter, 13 Whimbrel, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Snipe, 2 Ruff, 7 Greenshank, 1 Grey Plover, 26 Ringed Plover, 2 Green Sandpiper, 3 Little Stint, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 35 Dunlin, 21 Sanderling, 2 Common Sandpiper, 2+ Peregrine, 22 Yellow Wagtail (4 present, 9 west and 9 north), 2 Grey Wagtail - north, 9 Wheatear, 2 Whinchat, 70 House Sparrows and 5 Mediterranean Gulls. I then went back for the evening tide meeting Francis and Dave Beadle down there. We watched between 6.00 and 8.15pm seeing: 32 Mallard, 9 Teal, 2 Shoveler, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Greenshank, 3 Knot, 8 Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plover, 1 Arctic Skua, 13 Mediterranean Gulls, 220 Sandwich Terns, 640 Common Terns, 1+ Arctic Tern, 3 Little Tern, 3 Black Tern and very little else. (Phil M)

Tuesday 24th August  Pegwell clifftop area

Good numbers of common warblers were dotted around my circuit today, particularly in the clifftop bushes. In addition to the usual 4 Sylvia warbler types, and the expected Willow Warblers, a few Chiffchaffs were also present. Three Wheatears (my first of the autumn) were in the paddocks and I ran out of fingers and toes counting all the Yellow Wagtails. (Scott)

Tuesday 24th August Restharrow

I arrived at the hide just before 5.00 this morning, why? I’ll never know, it didn’t start getting light till gone twenty past. The scrape looked fairly empty, as yesterday, with just the outline of a dozen or so ducks. When I finally could see enough I noted 10 Teal, 1 Greenshank, 9 Mallards, and 1 Oystercatcher. As the light improved 3 Little-ringed Plovers revealed themselves and there were, 2 Green Sandpipers, 1 Snipe, 3 Moorhens, 1 Shoveler and 1 Black-headed Gull. The highlight, however, was a Hobby that hawked briefly over the scrape at 5.50am. (Martyn Wilson)

Tuesday 24th August Grove Ferry / Stodmarsh NNR

I reached Grove at 6.20 this morning and heading straight for the ramp where there were obviously a couple of new arrivals, there being 15 Ruff and 1 Wood Sandpiper otherwise a much of a munches! There were 4 Little Egrets, 2 Greenshanks, 5 Grey Herons a few Reed and Sedge Warblers and several Teal and Lapwing. There was still 1 Garganey from the Feast hide and the count of Green Sandpipers totalled 25 today plus 11 Water Rails. A single Black-tailed Godwit flew over me towards the main pool, a Little Grebe was also from Feast hide and a single male Marsh Harrier was seen near Marsh hide. There were 2 Greenfinches by Newbons Farm where I also had 7 Turtle Doves (1 in a tree & 6 on telegraph wires). There were 9 Cetti’s Warblers around the reserve today and there was a mobile flock of 12+ Chiffchaffs near the Alder Wood. The lake at Stodmarsh had 2 Great-crested Grebes, 36 Tufted Ducks and 77 Pochards while on the Water Meadows there were singles of Greenshank, Little-ringed Plover and Ringed Plover. That was about the best of it but Friday’s weather looks good so, fingers crossed. (Martyn Wilson)

Tuesday 23rd August 2011 Pegwell Bay

Craig and I watched from 5.20 - 10.45am - joined on and off by a Motley Crew consisting of Monsieur Beadle, Franny, the rather wonderful Victor Meldrew impersonator known as 'Brian' and some bloke called Steve Ray? Craig and I arrived early hopeful of a decent wader arrival on the back of the late night early morning forecast deluge (which never happened) and early on it appeared to be a complete waste of time though as the weather deteriorated so some birds did at least trickle in but in nowhere near the numbers we'd have expected had the rain arrived a few hours earlier unfortunately. There was no sign of yesterdays Tern - not that it even crossed our minds that it would do a re-show of course, but we did see: 15+ Little Egrets, 1 Common Scoter, 21 Teal, 4 Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 20 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 15+ Grey Plover, 120 Ringed Plover, 7 Curlew Sandpipers (which included the first juveniles - at least 4 birds), 12 Knot, 80 Dunlin, 20 Sanderling, 1+ Common Sandpiper, 3 Wood Sandpipers,100 Sandwich Terns, 20+ Common Terns, 38 Little Terns, 2 Peregrines etc. (Phil M)

Tuesday August 23rd Restharrow

After the forecast rain for overnight had me looking forward to this morning’s birding and waking at 2.30am to find it lashing down, I arrived at the scrape with great expectations. Arriving just after 5.05am in rain and darkness I found a near 0n empty scrape just the silhouettes of 15 or so ducks. As the light slowly improved I could see there were 14 Mallards and 7 Teal. The Grey Heron remains in residence and a Greenshank appeared from behind the big island. No sign of any Wood Sandpipers today but, there were 3 Dunlin, 2 Snipe and 2 Little-ringed Plovers came into view. Three Black-headed Gulls landed on the scrape, 11 Little Egrets flew in at 5.55 and just as I was packing up a Green Sandpiper came in and landed on the big island.                 (Martyn Wilson)

Tuesday August 23rd 2011 Grove Ferry

Grove Ferry fared no better either this morning with very little to report. I only did the Grove end and only stayed 2 hours, it was dire. Birds noted were, 9 Little Egrets, 19 Green Sandpipers, 2 Marsh Harriers, 27 Greylag Geese and 1 Greenshank. Three Water Rail showed from Feast hide where there were 2 immature drake Garganey and a Little Grebe while Harrison’s had 2 Ruff. The fields behind Harrison’s again had 40+ Yellow Wagtails amongst the cattle. There were still plenty of Reed & Sedge Warblers while ducks including Teal, Mallard, Shoveler and Gadwall seemed lower than of late and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was on the mud from the ramp. (Martyn Wilson)

Monday 22nd August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I watched the tide this evening with Craig in good looking conditions (n/east breeze and rain) seeing a few bits and pieces which included a rarity in the shape of a juvenile White Winged Black Tern which loitered briefly in the bay on two occasions, landing on mud twice but never really settling before flying off s/east out to sea at 5.50pm. This was the second area records after a bird seen by old Hairy on 23rd August 2007. The rest of the evenings haul included 20+ Little Egrets, 6 Whimbrel, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Greenshank, 5 Common Sandpipers, 2 Ringed Plovers, 25 Dunlin, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 100+ Sandwich Terns, 350+ Common Terns, 17+ Arctic Terns, 500 Swallows, 200 House Martins and 150 Sand Martins. (Phil M)

Monday 22nd  August 2011 Pegwell cliff top area

A good selection of common warblers in the bushes & trees behind the Shell garage this morning - 5 Willow Warblers, 1 Garden Warbler, a (family?) group of 4 Lesser Whitethroats, a pair of Common Whitethroats and 3 Blackcaps all noted. Plenty of hirundines (mainly Swallows but some House Martins) around the fields and paddocks, where I also counted at least 9 Yellow Wagtails of various ages. Nice views of a Hobby as it came over, being mobbed by the Swallows. No chats, flycatchers or scarcer bits seemed to be on offer today. (Scott)

Monday 22nd  August 2011  Grove Ferry / Stodmarsh NNR

Arriving at Grove Ferry a little later than usual (6.15am) as I visited Restharrow at Sandwich on the way there were several Blue & Great Tits along the entrance track with Long-tailed Tits, Whitethroats and a couple of Chiffchaffs for company. On the reserve today were, 5 Ruff, 188 Lapwings, 306 Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall and Mallard, 4 Black-tailed Godwits and 38 Green Sandpipers. Two Goldfinches were on the ramp with another 5 along the river and there were 55 Black-headed Gulls on the pool. There were 6 Cetti’s Warblers this morning plus 5 Stock Doves, 4 Grey Herons, 5 Green Woodpeckers, 22 Mute Swans, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Greenshank, 1 Whinchat, 1 Garganey, 2 Little Grebes and 1 Spotted Redshank. Several Bearded Tits were heard (probably numbering about a dozen) and there high numbers of Reed and Sedge Warblers with another mobile flock of bird consisting of 20+ Chiffchaffs, 2 Lesser Whitethroats and several Tits near the Water Meadows. Once again there were a lot of Yellow Wagtails in the fields behind Harrison’s but harder to count today as they were further in than yesterday. A single Hobby flew low west  and a small flock of 20 House Martins were noted.  Also noted were, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Little-ringed Plover, 6 Snipe, 13 Little Egrets (10 ramp & 3 Marsh hide) and 2 Turtle Doves (1 near Paddy’s bench and another seen and heard calling by Malcolm McVail and  Barry Woolhouse at the Paddock). There was a Treecreeper in ‘the Jungle’ and on the lake at Stodmarsh were, 154 Greylag Geese, 16 Tufted Ducks, 61 Pochards, 1 Great-crested Grebe and a female Wigeon. I met up with Barry and Malcolm along Harrison’s Drove where we proceeded to the ramp for the rest of the morning. Whilst on the ramp 2 Crossbills flew low over us heading north, north/west calling loudly, first picked up by Malcolm. (Martyn Wilson)

Monday 22nd  August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT

Back at the scrape at 5.05 this morning with the dark hanging on just a little longer as the weeks pass. A very quiet scrape today with just 58 Mallards and no Geese. There were 8 Teal, 1 Greenshank, 2 Wood Sandpipers, 1 Green Sandpiper and 2 Little-ringed Plovers. A Green Woodpecker flew over the scrape and there were 2 Snipe present 2 Little Egrets joined the two already there and 3 Black-headed Gulls were on show. I left at 6.00am but when passing back through at midday there were 3 Whinchats on the fence around the “turf” triangle by Dickson’s corner. (Martyn Wilson)

Sunday 21st August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I popped down for the dropping tide having a 'scoot' around the farm and cliff top on my way down, arriving at 4.45pm. I was hoping for some Wheatears and Whinchat's but had to make do with 1 Wheatear on the fields and a few Yellow Wagtails around the Horse Paddocks. The tide was annoying (better not say why?) and I saw: 25 Little Egrets, 3 Gannets - south, 4 Greenshank, 120+ Redshank, 8 Dunlin, 5 Ringed Plover, 2 Whimbrel, 6 Mediterranean Gulls, 1 juvenile Kittiwake, 1 Arctic Skua (harrying the Terns offshore) 480+ Common Terns, 100 Sandwich Terns, 17 Little Terns, 500 Swallows, 50 Sand Martin etc. (Phil M)

Sunday 21st August 2011 Grove Ferry

There was a Tawny Owl calling when I pulled up at the entrance gate this morning at 5.00 and when I arrived at the ramp I found someone in a tent next to the track at the bottom of the ramp??? Very odd! Never did see the occupant/s. Sue Morton joined me at 7.00am and we did the Grove circuit only, getting as far as the Water Meadows before turning back. Birds today were, 4 Cetti’s Warblers, 2 Ruff, 22 Green Sandpipers, 7 Little Egrets, 1 Greenshank, 40 Greylag Geese, 3 Grey Herons and 9 Marsh Harriers (3 males, 2 females & 4 juveniles). There were very few birds to view today with just 67 Lapwings, 160 Teal and  except for Mallard, Gadwall & Shoveler in varying numbers the lake looked pretty bare, There was a Little-ringed Plover from the ramp plus the Spotted Redshank still, a Turtle Dove was flying around the Paddock and from Feast hide there were, 2 Little Grebes, 1 Kingfisher and 1 Garganey.  In the fields behind Harrison’s there were between 85 & 100 Yellow Wagtails in with the Cattle also there was a single Whinchat on the fence line (our first this Autumn) and there were 3 juvenile Green Woodpeckers together by the gate at the southern end of the Drove. A few Reed & Sedge Warblers noted today plus 7 or so Whitethroats and a steady trickle of Swallows and Sand Martins passing through. (Martyn Wilson)

One of the RAF Red Arrows crashes at Bournemouth today and the Pilot dies, so let's take a minute to reflect on what a great job that they do for GB and all of us, that have enjoyed there displays' (Gadget)

Saturday 20th  August 2011 Grove Ferry / Stodmarsh NNR

Arriving at Grove Ferry at 5.15 this morning it was just starting to lighten up a bit and from the ramp there seemed a lot less Geese were present, in fact there were just 76 although good numbers of Teal with around 450 birds. There were 7 Little Egrets on the pool plus 2 Ruff and 2 Green Sandpipers. There were of course several Mallard, Shoveler and Gadwall as well. Marsh Harriers seen this morning were 2 males, 1 female and 2 untagged juveniles. Up to 6 Water Rails were seen and heard, there were 4 Grey Herons and as the Lapwings started to build up a lone Spotted Redshank flew in and then back out again after a few minutes. A couple of Goldfinches were feeing around the ramp and a flock of 100+ Swallows alighted from the reeds. Several Sand Martins passed through heading west and a single House Martin was noted. As I approached the Feast hide I came across a gathering of Reed and Sedge Warblers but couldn’t locate anything scarcer amongst them, a Greenshank flew over toward Feast hide pool and on the pool there were 3 Water Rails (2 juveniles  & 1 adult), 9 Green Sandpipers, the Greenshank, 1 Little Grebe and assembled Ducks. Harrison’s was very quiet except for 6 Green Sandpipers and there were no passerines in the bushes behind except 5 Linnets. Two of 6 Stock Doves flew past me as I wandered towards the river, a Lesser Whitethroat was on the rail side fence by the barky dogs place and on the Water Meadows were, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Little-ringed Plover, 11 Snipe and a further 9 Green Sandpipers. Just past Paddy’s Bench the bushes held a large mixed flock of Tits & Warblers with Blue Tit and Chiffchaff being the most numerous but also with a small party of Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Blackcaps and at least 1 Reed Warbler also, 3 Green and 1 Great-spotted Woodpeckers were noted en-route. From the Tower hide at Stodmarsh there were 2 Great-crested Grebes, 5 Tufted Ducks and 48 Pochards and half a dozen Mute Swans. Several small flocks of Greylag Geese flew over heading towards Grove and on retracing my steps back along the river I encountered 21 Canada Geese with the Greylags on the Water Meadows. Back at the ramp, adding very little in between save a pair of Jays, there were 2 more Lesser Whitethroats. The pool was much as I’d last seen it but the Spotted Redshank was back and there were 2 Greenshanks and 3 Black-tailed Godwits, possibly a different three to the ones on the Water Meadows or, maybe not. A Sparrowhawk flew low across the adjacent fields and a total of 7 Cetti’s Warblers were heard. Sue Morton came along to see the Spot Red and then we went for a quick look at Westbere Lake, not much here except 2 Common Terns 30+ Great-crested Grebes and a couple of hundred Herring Gulls and a few Lesser Black Back Gulls. (Martyn Wilson)

Friday 19th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

A four hour wander around the entire area (for some reason ... boredom?) turned up singles of Redstart, Wheatear and Whinchat plus quite a few Yellow Wagtails and a scattering of Willow Warblers. It was a lovely morning but I never really felt it likely I was going to see anything out of the ordinary. I took a few counts which were: 10 Little Egrets, 1 Whimbrel, 2 Greenshank, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Peregrine, 2 Common Buzzards, 220 Swifts, 200 Swallows, 40 House Martins, 45 Whitethroats, 10 Lesser Whitethroats, 5 Blackcaps, 2 Garden Warblers, 20 Willow Warblers and 1 Bullfinch. (Phil M)

Friday 19th August 2011 Manston airfield Area

A visitor to my office reported sighting a female Hen Harrier over the fields to the south of Manston airfield today. (A Parker)

Friday 19th August 2011 Dumpton Thanet & Marsh-side area

Before I left home today there were 2 Sparrowhawks drifting east over Newlands Farm around 11-45hrs, then as i made my way over to Marsh-side 2 more Sparrowhawks were noted drifting west, over the Thanet Way, other bits noted around Marsh-side were 8 Swallows, 9 Long-tailed Tits 3 Whitethroats, 2 Willow Warblers, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Moorhens, 2 Coots, and a Common Buzzard drifting east,  (Gadget)

Friday 19th August 2011 Ancient Highway Sandwich

As the day started dry, sunny and without the cool northerly wind of previous days I decided to visit Sandwich. Called in at Restharrow scrape but M W had recorded the birds much earlier so nothing further to report there. I decided to visit the area between the Cinque Ports Golf Club car park and the Chequers Inn where I had some success noting 3 Whinchat and 1 Wheatear.  (Barry Woolhouse)

Friday 19th August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT

Birds noted on the scrape before i left at 6.00am were, 100 Greylag Geese and 68 Mallards but no sign of any Canada Geese today. There were 14 Teal, 3 Little-ringed Plovers, 1 Dunlin, 1 Common Sandpiper and 3 Ringed Plovers. The immature Grey Heron was still present as was the Greenshank and 3 Wood Sandpipers. The 2 Moorhens and their 1 youngster still there and there was a male Pheasant without a tail and no primary feathers plus 2 Black-headed Gulls. Another look at lunchtime between 12.45 and 13.30 added 3 Green Sandpipers, 2 Oystercatchers, 2 Stock Doves and 3 Linnets plus the 3 Wood Sandpipers and Common Sandpiper still present.          (Martyn Wilson)

Thursday 18th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

A blustery day and one where I should really have been sea-watching but in the end I just did my usual route then watched the incoming tide in the early afternoon. The birding was awful - very little around the windswept bushes and the tide wasn't much better. Two pluses were 'blast from the past' cameo appearances from Iris and Barry Child then on my way home a car pulled over near the Viking ship and out of it stepped Martyn Wilson ... it was all like a day out in the late 1990's all over again. Anyway back to today's birding ... my rather threadbare notes were as follows: c20 Little Egrets, 60 Gannets - south, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Greenshank, 1 Knot, 12 Dunlin, 1 Common Sandpiper, 120 Sandwich Terns, 1+ Bullfinch etc. (Phil M)

Thursday 18th August 2011 Restharrow SBBOT

On the scrape this morning the 22 Canada Geese were again present as were, 112 Greylag Geese, 99 Mallards, 6 Teal, 3 Wood Sandpipers, 1 Greenshank, 1 Dunlin and 1 Curlew. No sign of any Little-ringed Plovers today but the 2 Moorhens and their 1 youngster were present. Also 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret and a Black-headed Gull. (Martyn Wilson)

Wednesday 17th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I had a wander around the bushes for two to three hours to waste a bit of time until the tide arrived within viewing distance. The only surprise of the day was provided by a Spotted Flycatcher on the Hover port. The rest of the counts were: c30 Little Egrets, 1 Wigeon, 7 Mallard, 10 Teal, 660 Oystercatcher, 385 Curlew, 10 Whimbrel, 3 Greenshank, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Green Sandpiper, 6 Knot, 15 Dunlin, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Peregrine, 100 Sandwich Tern, 5 Common Tern, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 3 Yellow Wagtail - north, 2 Whinchat, 2 Wheatear, 160 Swifts, 520 Sand Martin, 25 House Martin, 100+ Swallow, 50 Whitethroat, 10 Willow Warbler and 2 Bullfinch. (Phil M)

Wednesday 17th August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT

Arriving at 5.00am i found the Wheatear to be still present by the entrance to the scrape, while the scrape itself was much as usual with, 98 Greylag Geese and 108 Mallards but, with the added bonus? of 22 Canada Geese as well. There were 9 Teal, 1 Greenshank, 3 Wood Sandpipers and 1 Dunlin. I could only locate 2 Little-ringed Plovers, the Grey Heron was still present and a Little Egret came in to feed. Only saw 1 Moorhen again today but the other one and the youngster were seen later on yesterday. (Martyn Wilson)

Tuesday 16th August 2011 Dumpton Thanet

Around 17-45hrs a Hobby was hawking over the fields of Newlands Farm stayed for three minute's when it flew towards Ramsgate Cemetery, this is the fist Hobby that I have noticed over the fields behind my house this year, (Gadget)

Tuesday 16th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I watched the area between 06.00 and 09.30 this morning. It was flat calm and cloudy first thing though eventually the sun broke through and the wind picked up from the s/west. After a quick look at the mud flat on arrival I had a long wander around all the bushes between Stone Lees and the Hover port seeing: 15 Little Egrets, 5 Whimbrel, 3 Greenshank, 60 Redshank, 43 Dunlin, 8 Green Sandpipers, 1 Peregrine, 1 Hobby, 3 Mediterranean Gulls, 1 Sandwich Tern, 6 Yellow Wagtails - south, 23 Meadow Pipits - s/west, 3 Wheatears, 12 Blackcaps, 160 Whitethroats, 12 Lesser Whitethroats, 12 Sedge Warblers and 20 Willow Warblers. (Phil M)

Tuesday 16th August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT

Birds on the scrape this morning were, 3 Wood Sandpipers, 5 Little-ringed Plovers, 103 Greylag Geese, 86 Mallards, 6 Teal, 1 Greenshank, 1 Moorhen, Grey Heron and 1 Curlew. Roger Lawrence joined me having seen a Wheatear as he entered the hide and when i left the Wheatear was still present and a Shelduck flew over (Martyn Wilson)

Monday 15th August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT

My regular morning session at the scrape is getting shorter now the days are starting later, i arrived at 5.05 this morning and birds present were; 4 Wood Sandpipers, 5 Little-ringed Plovers, 6 Teal, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Greenshank and a calling Grey Partridge. The Geese and Duck were 89 Mallards and 87 Greylag Geese while the 2 Moorhens seemed to have lost a youngster, just the one with them today and as i was leaving at 5.45 a Curlew and 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls flew over. (Martyn Wilson)

Sunday 14th August 2011 Sandwich Bay SBBOT

A trip to the Restharrow hide and then down to Backsand scrape on the Sandwich Bay estate was cut short when a couple let loose their 3 Labrador dogs onto the pool at Backsand, scattering everything off and seeking refuge in safer and quieter surroundings.
Restharrow had 3 Wood Sandpipers, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Greenshank and a Green Sandpiper, seen by Tim Gutsell and I, before moving on to Backsand, where we spent a couple of hours in the photographic hide, noting 3 Wood Sandpipers, 4 Common Sandpipers, at least 10 Green Sandpipers, 18 Greenshank, 30 + Redshank and a juvenile Ruff. A Sparrowhawk flew over as did a Kestrel, there were 2 Little Egrets and a Little Grebe on the scrape. Everything was spooked and then flushed by a couple whom appeared on the bank by the hide on the opposite side to us, letting off their 3 Labrador dogs to run amok in the scrape. Not a bird was left, as we watched everything fly off high back over towards Pegwell. The couple then ambled around the waters edge, where a short confrontation occurred in front of the hide that we were sitting in. The person was a wildfowler, and he explained that he paid rent to shoot there, and he was entitled to do as he pleased on the scrape. Why do I always bump into knob heads seeking to piss me off, even when I am miles from any where.     (Steve Ashton)

Sunday 14th August 2011 Abbey Farm Minster Thanet Behind the Signal Box

Today I saw the First Yellowhammer I've seen in just over 2 years, also seen today was 3 sightings of a Sparrowhawk prob the same one, also through out the day, (12 hour shift), Linnets, Whitethroats, Blue Great & Long tailed Tits, Dunnock's, Chaffinches, Robin, Blackbirds, Magpies, Parakeets, Carrion Crows, Jackdaws, House Sparrows, Wren, to name but a few... Cant add numbers as there are birds always on the move.. (Mark Milham)

Sunday 14th August 2011 Grove Ferry / Stodmarsh NNR

Sue Morton, Mark Chidwick and I did the Grove/Stodmarsh circuit this morning taking a counter clockwise route starting from the ramp at 5.00am. We took in the Feast hide, Harrison’s hide, Water Meadows, Tower, Reedbed and Marsh hides and back to the ramp, finishing at midday. Making the note book today were 7 Black-tailed Godwits with 6 from the ramp and 1 at  the Water Meadows, 7 Ruff, 32 Green Sandpipers ( 5 main pool, 6 Feast hide, 4  Harrison’s & 17 Water Meadows), 30 Canada Geese again, although there was only four first light and 9 Little Egrets. There were 300+ Greylag Geese, 7 Grey Herons, 2 Cetti’s Warblers, the juvenile Curlew Sandpiper again, 5 Wood Sandpipers (3 mian pool & 2 Water Meadows), 2 Common Sandpipers, 12 Water Rails, 5 Marsh Harriers, 187 Lapwings and 19 Yellow Wagtails. A Kestrel hovered over the fields behind Harrison’s while there were 2 Little Grebes at the Feast hide, a juvenile Ringed Plover on the Water Meadows, 17 Snipe, 1 Sparrowhawk and a few each of Reed & Sedge Warblers as well as Common Whitethroat. The lake at Stodmarsh held 30 Mute Swans, 22 Pochards, 5 Tufted Ducks, 4 Great-crested Grebes (2 young) and several Shoveler, Teal, Mallard and Gadwall. House Martin, Sand Martin and Swallow were seen in varying numbers and there were also 3 Swifts. There were 38 Goldfinches near Newborns Farm,  a Bittern flew over us as we headed back towards the ramp, and seemed to land somewhere near the main pool and there were a dozen Meadow Pipits in the cow fields by Harrison’s Drove. (Martyn Wilson)

Saturday 13th August 2011 Grove Ferry / Stodmarsh NNR

I pulled up at the Grove Ferry entrance gate at 4.20 this morning and for the next 15-20 minutes I sat watched the antics of a pair of Pipistrelle Bats as they fed. From the ramp there were 30 Canada Geese with the 200 or so Greylags, there were also 8 Little Egrets, 13 Green Sandpipers, 2 Ruff, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Common Sandpiper and 7 Yellow Wagtails. Common duck included Mallard, Shoveler , increasing numbers of Teal and 1 Gadwall. The Feast hide had 2 more Green Sandpipers, 7 Water Rails (6 varying youngsters) and 2 Garganey. A single Bearded Tit was heard at the corner of Harrison’s Drove. At least  6 Grey Herons were noted and there were 7 Marsh harriers (4 juveniles & 3 males) while at the Water Meadows there were 23 Green Sandpipers (38 total), 1 Dunlin, a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper (new for the year), 2 more Ruff, 2 Wood Sandpipers, 1 full summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit  and 8 Snipe. Mark Chidwick then joined me (needing Curlew Sand for the year) and we made our way to the Tower hide at Stodmarsh. Several Sand Martins were feeding over the lake while ducks included, 18 Pochards and 8 Tufted Duck. There were 5 Common Terns, a Great-crested Grebe with its fast growing chick and many Gulls passing over. Retracing our steps  found a second Dunlin on the Water Meadows but no sign of the Curlew Sandpiper but, back on the ramp late morning we found the Curlew Sandpiper and the 4 Ruff amongst the assembled Lapwing, Geese and Ducks. A couple of Stock Doves were seen, 5 Swifts lingered over the pools and 4 Goldfinches were around the ramp. (Martyn Wilson)

Friday 12th August 2011 Restharrow SBBOT

Much the same as every other morning this morning with 138 Mallards, 114 Greylag Geese and 2 Teal. Added bonus was with the waders as there was a Little Stint between 5.00am & 6.00am plus, 2 Wood Sandpipers, 1 Greenshank, 4 Little-ringed Plovers and a Dunlin. The two Moorhens were out with there 2 fluffy youngsters while a Reed Warbler put in a brief show, the juvenile Grey Heron still there and, there were 3 Black-headed Gulls and 1 juvenile Herring Gull present. On a return visit at lunchtime between 12.00 & 1.00pm i added 2 Oystercatchers, another Dunlin, 1 Lapwing, 3 Meadow Pipits, 1 Kestrel 600+ Starlings, 1 Stock Dove and 6 Linnets. A small number of Swallows swooped in for a drink and there were several corvids around the perimeter. (Martyn Wilson)

Friday 12th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

A bit of cloud and a pre dawn light shower had me watching the bushes from 5.00am but there was little going on. I did get 4 early morning Yellow Wagtails and the first Tree Pipit of the autumn passage but other than these things there was little going on for the first hour. Before watching the tide a few hours later on I did come across a juvenile Cuckoo and 2 Whinchat's on the Country Park, 2 Bullfinch in Stone Lees plus quite a few common Warblers which included 3 Garden Warblers and 10+ Lesser Whitethroats. Another four Yellow Wagtails flew south before Craig and I left at 11.30 too. We did the tide and watched a few sea-birds passing by at enormous distance offshore seeing: 135 Gannets - south, 17 Little Egrets, 9 Common Scoter - south, 1 Tufted Duck - in off, 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Peregrines, 6+ Whimbrel, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 1 Greenshank, 150 Redshanks, 3 Knot, 25 Dunlin, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 100 Sandwich Terns, 50 Common Terns and 1 Little Tern. (Phil M)

Thursday 11th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I popped down this evening only - initially having a quick and unsuccessful look for any newly arrived Wheatears plus a few plants I'm still to bag around the old hover port. By about 7.30pm I set up near the hide for a half hearted look at the incoming tide, mainly on the strength of yesterday evenings 1000+ Common Terns and first scan, even though the tide was miles out I could see similar numbers or more already out there and there were also lots out at sea too. My initial count turned up 1960 Common Terns on the mud and well as a few hundred milling about out at sea but it soon became apparent that birds were streaming south into the bay looking at long range n/east towards the ferry terminal. At 8.10 numbers built to 3180 on the mud and at least 500 at sea and birds were still arriving as I counted. At 8.25 there were 4800 in the bay whilst 1000+ had flown off high inland (One departed flock of 500 alone went high west inland over the Country Park) and my final count taken as light levels dropped at 8.35 revealed 5800 on the mud in the bay and quite a few out at sea bringing the total to a staggering 7400 birds and quiet a few birds were still arriving from the south too. I spent the last hour of light counting Common Terns as you can imagine so didn't really take an awful lot of notice of much else other than to take a few photos of the nice sunset. I did see a few other bits - a Marsh Harrier flew west as I arrived on the Country Park plus looking out on the mud turned up 500 Sandwich Terns, 16+ Black Terns, 1+ Arctic Tern, 30 Dunlin, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank etc whilst out at sea another 20 Gannets south and a pale phase Arctic Skua was harrying the Terns offshore - there may have been two birds even? (Phil M)

Thursday 11th August 2011 Restharrow 05.00-05.45hrs

Unable to watch the Restharrow Scrape yesterday morning as the SBBOT were ringing over night. This morning however, there were 2 Wood Sandpipers, 2 Dunlin, 6 juvenile Little-ringed Plovers and 1 Greenshank. Plus 108 Greylag Geese, 100 Mallards, 5 Teal, the juvenile Grey Heron and an adult Black-headed Gull and, just before i left for work 3 young Little Egrets dropped in. (Martyn Wilson)

Wednesday 10th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I only did the evening session this evening - arriving at 7.15 and leaving as it got too dark to watch. There were lots of Terns and Gulls out on the mud this evening but little else - a few Bar-tailed Godwits, Whimbrel etc scattered amongst the obvious stuff on view. I took a few counts which were 50+ Dunlin, 12 Ringed Plover, 1 Grey Plover, a few Mediterranean Gulls, 450 Sandwich Terns, 1000+ Common Terns and 1 Black Tern. (Phil M)

Tuesday 9th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

Two trips today taking in the early morning and early evening tides. The early session (05.10 - 07.00am) turned up quite a few newly arrived small waders and quiet a few Gannets offshore but little else except for 1000's of Black-headed Gulls. The evening session (17.30 - 20.00) had the usual good numbers of both Common Terns and Sandwich Terns as well as 2 Black Terns. Today's combined counts were: 63 Gannets - north plus a few milling about offshore out in the bay, 2 Mute Swans - south, 37 juvenile Shelducks, 1 Avocet, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Greenshank, 15 Whimbrel, 315 Curlew, 430 Oystercatcher, 3 Knot, 182 Dunlin, 20 Sanderling, 2 Grey Plover, 23 Ringed Plover, 12 Mediterranean Gull, 23 Kittiwakes, 250 Sandwich Terns, 350 Common Terns and 2 Black Terns. (Phil M)

Tuesday 9th August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT

A Pipistril Bar was buzzing around the hide as i entered this morning at 4.50am. Bird wise, amongst the Ducks & Geese, there being 138 Greylags & 130 Mallards that gather overnight, there were. 3 Greenshank, 5 Little-ringed Plovers (all juveniles), 2 Oystercatchers, 2 Wood Sandpipers and 3 Teal. As the Geese started to leave, revealing more open area to view there were also, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret (both young birds), 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Ruff, 2 Dunlin, 3 juvenile Herring Gulls and also the 5 Moorhens, although they seemed to have abandoned their nest now.  (Martyn Wilson)

Monday 8th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

Two more watches took place today, one at first light and one in the late afternoon/evening. Between us we saw the following: 30 Gannets, 9 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Greenshank, 4 Ringed Plovers, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 12 Whimbrel, 50 Dunlin, 3 Knot, 1 Ruff, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, 6 Wood Sandpiper, 1 - 2 Temminck's Stints, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, 400 Sandwich Terns, 1200 Common Terns, 70 Mediterranean Gulls, 3 Turtle Doves and 1 Raven - south. (Phil M)

Monday 8th August 2011 St Peters Thanet

Whilst gardening, a Cuckoo flew across my back garden. (11am) It landed about four gardens down and then flew back, heading West. A Hobby came over half an hour later, which also got my head up from the veg patch! (John Carnell)

Sunday 7th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

We decided to do a longer session watching the afternoon/evening tides in and out between 15.00 and 20.30. We saw between us: 30+ Little Egret, 5 Grey Heron, 20 Whimbrel, 1 Lapwing, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank, 15 Dunlin, 15 Common Sandpipers (one flock), 1 Turnstone, 2 Knot, 2 Gannet, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 200 Sandwich Tern, 600 Common Tern, 1 Arctic Tern, 5 Little Tern, 1 Black Tern, 2000+ Black-headed Gull, 100+ Mediterranean Gull, 1 Peregrine and 5 Turtle Dove. (Phil M)

Sunday 7th August 2011 Foreness Point

There were very few migrants to be seen on an early morning cycle alone the cliff top with just 6 Wheatears feeding on the putting green. (Rae Boulden)

Sunday 7th August 2011 Grove Ferry/Stodmarsh

Back for another weekend morning session at our favourite site, starting at Grove Ferry and walking the circuit to Stodmarsh  via the Water Meadows, Feast, Reedbed, Tower, Marsh and Harrison’s Drove Hides and finishing back on the Ramp at Grove. Joined today by Mark Chidwick or Chiddy, as he prefers (we can think of many other names to call him) and Adam Faiers (a Suffolk surname, apparently) we spent another several hours trying to locate the Spotted Crake but, alas, no sign again this morning. Several hundred Greylag Geese again present on the pool and at least 5 Water Rails along the back edge including juveniles and immatures. Two Hobbies were patrolling the Grove reeds before 5.00am and there were 6 Grey Herons, 75 and rising Lapwings 18 Little Egrets, 2 Black-tailed Godwits,  1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Wood Sandpipers, 8 Green Sandpipers and only 2 Garganey today. A male Sparrowhawk alighted on the ramp screens for a few seconds as Adam & I chatted before moving of when it realised we were there. The first of 10 Marsh Harriers was seen early morning, a female bird while 1 male, another female and 7 juveniles were seen, neither of the juveniles were tagged. The Feast hide had 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Water Rails (2 juveniles)  and little else while at Harrison’s Drove there were 5 Green Sandpipers and 7 Little Egrets plus roosting ducks. A Bittern was seen flying from Stodmarsh towards the Feast hide pool as we walked back towards the River but no sign of it when we re-entered for a quick look. On the Water Meadows were a further 2 Wood Sandpipers, 11 Green Sandpipers and 1 Ruff plus half a dozen Common Snipe. Not a lot of Warblers noted today, just the odd Sedge & Reed, a couple of Chiffchaffs and one or two Whitethroats while the lake at Stodmarsh was nigh on lifeless except for 17 Mute Swans. The Barn Owl was once again roosting in the box on Undertrees Farm barn while singing Skylark, 1 or 2 Bearded Tits, a few Linnets, 10 Goldfinch, 4 Turtle Doves and 5 Stock Doves all made the note book and the only Common Tern seen was a single feeding over Feast pool and the end of the session. The or another Bittern was seen twice from the Ramp before we left. (Martyn Wilson)

Sunday 7th August 2011 North Foreland

A Honey Buzzard over the Golf Course this morning (Brian Short)

Saturday 6th August 2011 Dungeness

A trip to Dungeness where there were 8 Wheatears seen, (2 juveniles) 2 Yellow legged Gulls, 4 Arctic Skuas robbing the feeding Terns of fish offshore, A solitary Gannet, 2 Black Terns, 30 + Common Terns and 8 Sandwich Terns. 14 Common Scoter flew East. We saw two Ravens out on the Denge Marsh Road and a Little Stint was feeding on one of the islands in front of the Hanson hide on the ARC pit. (Steve Ashton)

Saturday 6th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I went down twice again today, once early morning (05.15 - 07.30) then again in the afternoon for the incoming tide. (13.40 - 16.00) The rain an hour either side of dawn put down quite a few decent waders into the bay from first light but the afternoon session was dire. The tally for the entire day was: 14 Canada Geese, 1 Greylag, 7 Gadwall, 55 Whimbrel - mainly north at first light, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Golden Plover, 10 Ringed Plover, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 3 Kentish Plover (1 present until about 05.55 then north with other waders then a pair in off at 06.20 then were present across on Shellness), 1 Turnstone, 1 Knot, 13 Common Sandpiper, 30 Green Sandpiper (flocks of 17 and 6 plus a few one's and two's), 21 Wood Sandpiper (flocks of 7 west inland and a flock of 14 present for an hour then south around 07.00ish), 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Sanderling, 1 Knot, 2 Snipe, 1 Great Skua - south, 5+ Mediterranean Gull, 100 Sandwich Tern, 20 Common Tern, 34 Little Tern and 10 Sand Martin - south. (Phil M)

Saturday 6th August 2011 Grove Ferry /Stodmarsh

An early start at Grove Ferry saw Alan Ashdown, Mark Chidwick and myself noting 3 Peregrine Falcons from the Viewing Ramp before 6.00am as well as 29 Little Egrets from the Ramp. There was no sign of the Spotted Crake today but there were 15 Green Sandpipers, 5 Marsh Harriers, 7 Garganey, 350+ Greylag Geese, 2 Wigeon , a single Cetti’s Warbler and a Bittern that flew from the Feast hide pool towards us and dropped into the reeds by the right hand pool from the ramp. Various common Duck present with numerous Teal, Mallard, Shoveler and Gadwall all present. There were 2 Black-tailed Godwits from the ramp as was a single Wood Sandpiper, several Water Rails (including various aged juveniles), gathering Lapwings and 4 Goldfinches around the ramp. Harrison’s Drove hide was fairly quiet with common ducks a couple Little Egrets and 6 more Green Sandpipers. Nearing the Stodmarsh end of the reserve the Water Meadows held 2 Wood Sandpipers, 7 Green Sandpipers, 18 Snipe and little else although an Oystercatcher flew east over us on our way there. There were Reed and Sedge Warblers noted on our wanderings plus many Whitethroats all over the reserve, proving they’d had a good breeding season. Three or four Green Woodpeckers were noted along with 1 Little Grebe, 16 Pochard, 6 Tufted Ducks, 1 adult & 1 juvenile Great-crested Grebe, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Turtle Dove, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker and 3 Stock Doves. There was a Barn Owl roosting in the ‘owl box’ at Undertrees Farm and there were 2 Ruff from Marsh hide as was the second Bittern of the day flying east towards Grove before turning and dropping into the Savi’s corner area of the reserve. A female Wheatear on the posts of the Konik enclosure was the first of the Autumn  and back at the viewing ramp were there was still no sign of the Spotted Crake there were, 3 juvenile Yellow Wagtails, 1 Kestrel a few Swifts and Swallows and the highlight of the day when, at 11.10am an absolutely gorgeous pale phase male Honey Buzzard drifted South West over us, circled a couple of times before carrying onwards with its journey, a superb looking bird. (Martyn Wilson)

Friday 5th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I went down twice today - early on from 05.15 - 07.45 then again for the incoming tide between 13.30 and 15.45. The early morning session was most forgettable with hardly anything being seen - I did eventually get 4 Greenshank and 45+ Whimbrel but hardly anything else. The bushes were migrant free though I did hear purring Turtle Doves on both the Country Park and in Stone Lees. By far the most unusual sighting was a flock of 18 Canada Geese that were in the bay until 6.00am when they flew off to the south. The afternoon tide was slightly better - Jason Mitchell showed and we chatted and birded for about an hour or more. A few bits and pieces showed 15+ Little Egrets, 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Bar-tailed Godwits, 150 Sandwich Terns, 20 Common Terns, 7 Mediterranean Gulls and best of all 4 Little Ringed Plovers which were at one point in the scrape right in front of us. Even better when Jason left to walk back to his car which was parked up by the Sportsman he saw five together on the dried out garage pool which is a fair haul of LRP's for Pegwell. (Phil M)

Friday 5th August 2011 Foreness and North Foreland

There were five Wheatears on the pitch and putt course, and another three at North Foreland, where there was also a Whinchat. A pleasant few minutes were passed watching a Sedge warbler and a couple of Chiffchaffs feeding in a bush under the Foreness cliffs. (Steve Coates)

Friday 5th August 2011  North Foreland & Foreness area

This morning (Friday 5 August) there was a juvenile Kittiwake on the grass by the cliff edge near the Captain Digby. Then at the pitch-and-putt near the pumping station there were two Wheatears. (Marianne and Steve Harper)

Friday 5th August 2011 Ramsgate East Cliffs

I checked the Pigeon shrewn arches under the Granville Theatre for possible nesting Fulmars but found only 3 birds on ledges which could be possible nests. I will check again in a couple of weeks time to see if any nesting has taken place. Whilst walking along the top of the cliffs towards the park, I spotted 4 Sandwich Terns and 1 Common Tern flying distantly E - W and also, much closer in, a juvenile Kittiwake going in the same direction. (Ron Dubbins)

Friday 5th August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT & Chequers Pub Area4.45-6.00am

A Grey Partridge was in fields opposite the Chequers Pub by the Static Caravan site. This morning's counts were; 2 Common Snipe, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 4 juvenile Little-ringed Plovers, 1 Whimbrel, 89 Mallards, 102 Greylag Geese, 1 juvenile Grey Heron, 2 adult, 1 immature & 2 juvenile Moorhens, 1 Hobby at 4.54am, 4 Teal, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 juvenile Little Egret, 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 female Marsh Harrier and a single Wren.  (Martyn Wilson)

Friday 5th August 2011 Manston Thanet

I am happy to say that our long term resident Little Owls have successfully raised a brood in the hangar again this year. I managed to get a picture of two of them together today, they normally roost apart during the day.  (Simon Piggott)

Thursday 4th August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT 04.45-05.45hrs

Counts this morning were; 122 Greylag Geese, 76 Mallard, 3 Teal, 4 Little-ringed Plovers (all juveniles), 2 Snipe, 1 juvenile Grey Heron, the five Moorhens, 1 juvenile Little Egret, 3 juvenile Herring Gulls and 1 Wood Sandpiper.  (Martyn Wilson)

Thursday 4th August 2011 Pegwell Bay

We watched the incoming tide between about 1.00 and 3.15pm this afternoon in wet weather with a stiff s/west wind seeing: 20 Little Egrets, 5 Teal, 8 Whimbrel, 8 Bar-tailed Godwits, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, 50 Redshank, 26 Dunlin, 2 Sanderling, 3 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Little Stints, 2 Common Sandpipers, 50 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 6 Mediterranean Gulls, 1 Kittiwake, 1 x 1st summer Little Gull, 300 Sandwich Terns, 80 Common Terns, 1 Arctic Tern, 3 Little Terns and 3 Black Terns. (Phil M)

Wednesday 3rd August 2011 Sandwich Bay Area

A few Waders seen at Sandwich Bay this afternoon, starting in the Restharrow Scrape hide where there were 5 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Adult and 4 juveniles, a single Wood Sandpiper that was feeding in front of the hide at one stage, 1 Little Egret and approx 50 House Martins feasting on the flies above the pool. Moving on to Backsand Scrape, where there were a pair of Wood Sandpipers, one giving great views and photographed by the three of us in the hide, (Steve Ray and Gadget). There were a dozen Greenshank, 11 Green Sandpipers seen, and 4 Common Sandpipers were feeding on the mud. A Little Egret dropped in, a Little Grebe was on the pool and a Kestrel sat in a nearby treetop. Several Reed and Sedge Warblers were seen along the reed fringe and a few Common Whitethroats were in the vegetation behind the hide. (Steve Ashton)

Wednesday 3rd August 2011 Pegwell Bay

I made two visits today - firstly between 05.15 and 08.00am then again from 11.15 until 14.00 (joined by Craig during the second visit) and the following were seen between the combined session with a few additions from Tim Hodge and Martin Sutherland who were taking part in a disturbance count between 08.00 and 11.00: 20 Little Egret, 2 Gadwall, 1 Shoveler, 1 Wigeon, 12 Teal, 2 Garganey (hover-port pool at 05.20 then flying upriver with Teal at just before 07.00) 10 Whimbrel, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, 120 Redshank, 2 Ruff, 7 Grey Plover, 1 Golden Plover, 6 Ringed Plover, 4 Knot, 1 Turnstone, 20 Dunlin, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper, 19 Snipe (1 flock), 1 Peregrine, 3+ Sparrowhawk, 1 Marsh Harrier (west), 150 Sandwich Terns, 12 Common Terns, 4000+ Black-headed Gulls, 10 Mediterranean Gulls, 3+ Turtle Dove, 300 Swift, 3 Sand Martin, 50 Swallow, 4 Yellow Wagtail (over), 120 Whitethroat, 6 Lesser Whitethroat, 12 Sedge Warbler, 20 Reed Warbler, 30 Willow Warbler, 1 Grasshopper Warbler (Country Park - behind hide) and 2 Bullfinch. (Phil M)

Wednesday 3rd August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT

Not a lot different at a foggy Restharrow this morning with the Wood Sandpiper and Little-ringed Plover still present. The 5 Moorhens still showing (2 adult, 2 juvenile & 1 immature) plus 114 Greylag Geese, 73 Mallards and 2 Teal. A Green Woodpecker called from over at the Elms and the juvenile Grey Heron was still in residence. Two Rooks, 4 Magpies and 3 Linnets put in an appearance and there were 3 Sedge Warblers, 1 Ringed Plover and a juvenile Herring Gull.  (Martyn Wilson)

Wednesday 3rd August 2011 Grove Ferry

Last night at Grove Ferry Rick Smith and Mark Chidwick had, The Spotted Crake still present from the viewing ramp as was a smart summer plumaged Spotted Redshank plus also noted were 14 Green Sandpipers, 2 Black-tailed Godwits and a Greenshank   (Rick Smith and Mark Chidwick)

Tuesday 2nd August 2011 Pegwell Bay  09.45-17.00

I popped down a bit early for the incoming tide to see if there were any butterflies on the wing surprisingly very few throughout the day. Bird wise the lowlights were; 25 Little Egrets (high tide roost upriver), 20 Whimbrel, just 1 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper, 10 Mediterranean Gulls (4x ads;4x 2s & 2 1s), 2 juv Kittiwakes (north),c300 Sandwich Terns, 30 Common Terns, 8 Little Terns, 1 Black Tern (sum plum, moulting its head), 1500 Swifts( hawking over the Country Park, sadly nothing rare during the day), C200 Swallows (NW).  (Craig Sammels)

Tuesday 2nd August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT 04.45-05.45hrs

Arriving at Restharrow scrape just before 4.45 this morning for my usual bit of pre-work bird noted 112 Greylag Geese, 121 Mallards and 2 Teal plus a Fox patrolling the western edge for 10 minutes. A Moorhen that was at the very start of nest building yesterday morning (bending the reds over) has today got a fully completed nest, seeing her sitting on it i assumed she was about ready to lay when, as the male approached two little balls of fluff appeared from under her to take food from the arriving male. Now has she built a new nest to keep these two safe or, is she about to start egg laying again? Along with the two adults and two juveniles the lone immature Moorhen was still present. There were 2 Grey Herons (adult and juvenile), 1 juvenile Little-ringed Plover, 1 Wood Sandpiper still and a Grey Partridge calling. Also noted were 4 Reed Warblers, 1 Sedge Warbler, 3 Stock Doves and a female Pheasant. (Martyn Wilson)

Monday 1st August 2011 Foreness Area

Single Wheatear on the pitch and putt course, 1 Eider off the Point, 1 juv Kittiwake flew east and 33 Turnstones were congregated on the pumping station apron at high tide. (Barry Hunt)

Monday 1st August 2011 Restharrow Scrape SBBOT

A stop in the Restharrow hide on the way to work this morning, 4.40-6.00, produced, 87 Greylag Geese and 93 Mallards all of which left before 5.30am. There was 1 juvenile Little-ringed Plover, 3 Moorhens (1 immature), 3 Sedge Warblers, 6 Reed Warblers and a juvenile Grey Heron. A single Common Snipe was on the eastern fringe, a juvenile Little Egret flew in while 7 Linnets, 1 juvenile Herring Gull, 1 juvenile Black-headed Gull and 1 Oystercatcher were noted. As i was leaving a Curlew flew over and on a return visit, after work, at 2.00pm there was a smart Wood Sandpiper present. (Martyn Wilson)

Monday 1st August 2011 North Foreland & Cricket ground

Hobbies at the golf course have young and 5 Crossbills in the Cricket ground on Thursday last. (Brian Short)

Sunday 31st July 2011 Grove Ferry / Stodmarsh

Click Thumbnails to Enlarge

Green Sandpiper

29th August 2011

Little Stint

29th August 2011

Wigeon

22nd August 2011

Garganey

21st August 2011

Sparrowhawk

20th August 2011

Chiffchaff

20th August 2011

Greylag Geese

20th August 2011

Backsand scrape

14th August 2011

Ruff

14th August 2011

Water Rail

7th August 2011

Yellow legged Gull

6th August 2011

Sandwich Tern

6th August 2011

Little-ringed Plover

5th August 2011

Little Egret

5th August 2011

Grey Partridge

5th August 2011

Little Owls

5th August 2011

Wood Sandpiper

3rd August 2011

Greenshank

3rd August 2011

Common Sandpiper

3rd August 2011

Wood Sandpiper

1st August 2011

Barn Owl

31st July 2011