Friday 29th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

Not much about early morning. There were 11 Little Egrets just after first light, plus a singing Garden Warbler on the edge of the farm and best of all - wait for it ... a Coot!! Even weirder - a Coot flying overland!! If I come across as surprised then please note it's only the second ever Coot I've yet to see on site in many years of watching the area. I walked most of the area and watched the dropping tide making note of the following: 1 Brent, 2 Grey Plover, 7 Ringed Plover, 3 Whimbrel, 4 Curlew, 1 Knot, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Sandwich Tern and 5 Turtle Dove. The Corn Bunting is still jangling away in the normal spot plus I counted 9 singing Reed Warblers - all but three crunching away in the hover port reed bed. (Phil M)

Thursday 28th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

I had to go down to do some counts at some time this week so I picked today in rather half-hearted fashion. There was hardly anything wader wise on the incoming tide but the afternoon was brightened up when an Osprey flew in before getting chased all over the bay by a flock of bully boy Oystercatchers. I did also see a Green Sandpiper around the pools down near the hover pad plus 2 Hobby’s and a distant Marsh Harrier put in an appearance. The only other waders I saw were 1 Curlew, 2 Whimbrel, 4 Redshank and the 100+ semi resident Oystercatchers. (Phil M)

Wednesday 27th May 2009 North Foreland

A Red Kite (immature) high over Port Regis at 11.30 caused a little excitement amongst the local gull community (Rae Boulden)

Monday 25th May 2009 Chalk Hill Area Pegwell

I had a wander around the footpaths taking in the back of the paddocks and the farm from 3:30 - 4:30 pm. Very pleasant in the sunshine.  Birds were nothing special until about 16:15 on the way home when I caught sight of a large gull / raptor which came in from high.  I got my bins on it and saw it was a ring tail harrier, and it started to hunt the fields.  It gave lovely views - enough to confirm it as a Montagu's.  It gained height after a few minutes of coasting and headed out over the bay towards Deal at about 16:25 on its impossibly spindly wings.  Best biding moment of the spring for me!
(Scott) 

Sunday 24th May 2009 Ramsgate Cemetery

A very leisurely session, in the glorious sunshine, around the cemetery was rather quiet, not surprisingly! Overhead there were a few Swifts and a group of 5 House Martins hawking insects. A male Blackcap was in fine voice along the central walkway whilst a singing Chiffchaff caused a bit of head scratching when it "threw in" a few extra notes to the normal "chiff - chaff" song. Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker, Stock Dove, Great Tit and Rose-ringed Parakeet were all heavily involved in feeding youngsters whilst a couple of local Herring Gulls were still collecting nest material. (Dylan)

Saturday 23rd May 2009 Pegwell Bay

My normal morning route turned up virtually nothing today - a new Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Turtle Doves and a nice male Bullfinch being the highlights! I did watch the incoming tide combined with a raptor watch until late morning - the skies were dead with no raptors of any description on the move and there were hardly even any Swifts and Hirundines on show either, I did take down the wader counts from the incoming tide which were down to 12 Dunlin, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank and 3 Whimbrel, Otherwise only 2 Little Egret, 65 Shelduck, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Peregrine etc. (Phil M)

Thursday 21st May 2009 Pegwell Bay

I arrived extremely late today (7.30am) with the intention of staying on a bit later to do a raptor watch as I 'tried' yesterday. The bushes were very bad this morning - other than a few Turtle Doves and a new Reed Warbler it was dead as a Dodo so I cut the walking around short and concentrated on the mud flat and sky-watching. There were lots of Swifts moving over and hanging around over Ramsgate today - many hundreds passed north, also I saw more House Martins today than I've seen in the whole of the spring passage with at least 65 birds moving n/west along with a few Sand Martins and Swallows - which oddly were moving south for some reason? Unlike yesterday I did get a few raptors today - 2 Marsh Harriers, a Honey Buzzard and quite a few Hobby's showed up during the middle part of the morning. I did see a Kite specie heading west just before 9.00am - it was very distant and quite low unfortunately, which meant I kept losing sight of it behind the trees and bushes in the distance then I lost it altogether as it headed off inland. I also saw an interesting looking Heron heading north at 11.15 - once again the distance made identification impossible. My counts for the day were 1 Brent, 46 Shelduck, 7 Curlew, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 12 Dunlin, 11 Sanderling, c50 Ringed Plover, 1 Grey Plover, 104 Oystercatcher, 1 Greenshank, 2 Peregrine, 3-4+ Hobby, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Sandwich Tern and 2 Common Tern. I also saw another Hobby over my back garden during a moth photography session this afternoon. (Phil M)

Wednesday 20th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

I arrived quite late in the day (05.45am) and after checking the mud where there was very little I decided to have my normal 'no chance of seeing any new birds' wander around the country park and Stonelees. Guess what?? Nothing - not a sausage!! I met two strange looking men today conversely one with lots of hair and one with very little. The one with very little was Pete Forrest who I was rather lucky to bump into as he's going back to Brazil tonight where he earns a fortune as an non sober Andre Agassi lookalike. Anyway - we had a wander back up to the mud flat where he got a look at 2 Little Terns and 4 Avocets that had been knocking around all morning but the rarely seen Greenshank avoided us on this day unfortunately. Anyway it was good to see him which isn't exactly what I would like to say about the man with lots of hair I met later on during the morning. I tried to avoid him but he spotted me cowering in the undergrowth!! Even then I played dead but when he trod on my ankle to make sure I was a gonner I flinched and gave the game away. We had a nice walk around Stone Lees to look for some Agonopterix specie (a micro moth) his radar picked up during his last visit. The mission was successful on the moth front but it took me well over an hour to give him the slip on the pretext that I had a funeral or something or other to attend?? My counts for today were 7 Gannets - south, 8 Little Egret, 22 Common Scoter - south,1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine, 2 Hobby, 4 Avocet, 9 Curlew, 13 Whimbrel, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Grey Plover,19 Ringed Plover, 9 Sanderling, 9 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone, 100+ Swift, 20 House Martin, 1 Sand Martin, 4 Turtle Dove, 3+ Cuckoo, 12 Sandwich Tern, 2 Little Tern blah blah etc. (Phil M)

Tuesday 19th May 2009 North Foreland

A few Swallows drifting through this morning and Sandwich Terns heading up the Channel, 2 Coal Tits flying very high and calling tried to head off NW but seemed to suddenly run out of courage and dropped back to the bushes. (Simon Mount)

Tuesday 19th May 2009 Restharrow Scrape

Sat in the Restharrow Hide for an Hour this lunchtime nothing out of the ordinary to report hoping for a Hobby but no luck House Martins a few Swallows and Common Swifts was all that was flying around the scrape. (Gadget)

Monday 18th May 2009 North Deal and Fowlmead Country Park

A wander round the rough fields between North Deal and Fowlmead Country Park this morning in strong SW winds was enlivened by a nice Red-rumped Swallow, which hawked around the area for a few minutes before heading back north. A few other bits included 2 Cuckoos, 2 Garden Warblers, a pair of Lapwings, one of which was on a nest, and several pairs of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks feeding young, whilst a few Swallows and House Martins were also hawking round the horse paddocks there. (Tim H)

Monday 18th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

I went down for the early morning tide which was surprisingly poor given the wind and rain overnight and early on after first light. Very few waders were about at all though Tern numbers were up a bit with at least 60 Commic Terns and 30 - 40 Sandwich Terns milling around offshore. Later on in the morning as I checked the mud for the fourteenth time in between walks around the area there were 140+ Sandwich Terns either out on the mud or flying around in the bay as well as 28 Little Terns. My counts for the morning were 9 Gannet,1 Brent, c80 Shelduck, 1 Greenshank, 8 Dunlin,15 Sanderling, 3 Grey Plover, 22 Ringed Plover, 7 Whimbrel, 17 Curlew, 8 Bar-tailed Godwit, 130 Oystercatcher and 3+ Little Egret. On arrival at 5.00am there was a Barn Owl hunting around the bird hide and Country Park which seemed totally oblivious to my presence until I got my camera out of my pocket then it decided enough was enough and it made its way south along the sea wall. Cracking views mind you. Other bits and pieces seen during the morning included 1 Hobby, 1 Peregrine, 8+ Turtle Dove, 2+ Cuckoo, 2 Bullfinch and 3 Spotted Flycatchers. (Phil M)

Monday 18th May 2009 Grove Ferry

A run out to Grove Ferry this afternoon with an old friend, I sat in the old Green hide for an hour or two while my friend went looking for the Black-winged Pratincole out at the marsh-hide, there was not much different from the other day Coots, Great-crested Grebe, Mash Harrier, Swifts, Sand Martins, House Martins and a few Swallows what was notable was the water levels would appear to be rising all over the reserve, anyway  my friend located the Black-winged Pratincole so he was happy. (Gadget)

Sunday 17th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

An unremarkable visit from 06.20 to 08.15 produced 2 Whimbrel, 2 Grey  Plover, 14 Ringed Plover, 15 Dunlin, 6 Bar-tailed Godwits, 1 Brent, 66  Sandwich Terns, 3 Common Terns, 1 Hobby and 1 Cuckoo, (Nick Lever)

Sunday 17th May 2009 North Foreland

While chatting with Rae, a Honey Buzzard appeared out of the trees being chased by Crows. Good views over the golf course. It did not have the obvious pale buff patches as the bird did yesterday. Also the carpal patches seemed more obvious. Perhaps it was just the dull morning conditions compared with the sunny afternoon of yesterday but my immediate impression was that it was a different bird. No other migrants seen.   (Simon Mount) 

Saturday 16th May 2009 Grove Ferry

A run out to Grove Ferry late afternoon early evening to catch up with Steve Ashton as prearranged, we sat in what was the old green-hide chatting away and looking out at two Common Terns, 1 Great-crested Grebe, 2 Coots with a small family, 2 Kingfishers, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Marsh Harriers, with Swifts, Sand Martins and a few Swallows darting around in front of the hide, a relaxing hour spent taking photos. (Gadget)

Saturday 16th May 2009 North Foreland

A Honey Buzzard this afternoon that seemed to be hanging around for a while after 3:00. Superb views low down but it was given a torrid time by the Crows and Herring Gulls while struggling in the strong wind. On the upper side it had distinct pale buff patches on the inner primaries of each wing. (Simon Mount)

Saturday 16th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

I watched between 05.20hrs and about 09.00hrs which was a bit of a grueller as there wasn't much going on this morning even though the weather looked reasonably good for the mud flat. I didn't check many of the bushes due to the weather being rather inclement for that sort of thing. The ones I did have a look at and a listen to were devoid of any new passerines. My counts of the muddy bits were 1 Brent, 5 Little Egret, 75 Ringed Plover, 1 Grey Plover, 4 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, 10 Dunlin, 12 Knot, 8 Whimbrel, 6 Bar-tailed Godwit, 37 Sandwich Tern, 7 Common Tern and 1 Little Tern. Nick Lever had a group of 3 Black-tailed Godwits flying inland 'before' I got to Pegwell - crickey he's keen eh? It's not often anyone gets there before me these days, in fact nicks the only one lately. He's not yet quite in the Stour Valley group’s league but well done anyway. Mind you the poor bloke had to put up with my insane waffle so no doubt he'll be put off of doing any more early sessions for the foreseeable future? The only other bits I saw were a Peregrine and a few Swallows and Swifts heading south. I took a video of yesterday’s large brown falcon and after watching it have come to the conclusion that if the bird isn't some sort of hybrid then it's possibly a Lanner Falcon? It looks much like the North African race of Lanner that's illustrated in the Collins field guide. It's definitely not a Saker anyway. I did take a few photos but can't post them on this website as they are so bad that I could make a good case for it being a Budgie!!  (Phil M)

Friday 15th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

Lots of rain about overnight so I headed down for the dropping tide at first light to see how many new waders had arrived. There wasn't as much about as I'd anticipated at first though quite a few flocks of waders did show up as the tide receded, The wader counts for the morning were 5 Avocet, 80 Dunlin, 160 Sanderling, 240 Ringed Plover, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 70 Grey Plover, 32 Whimbrel, 9 Bar-tailed Godwit, 13 Greenshank, 130 Redshank, 260 Knot, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 8 Common Sandpiper and 6 Turnstone. I spent most of the morning waddling around the bushes in between the showers and keeping one eye on the mud flat and did come across a few bits of quality during my stay. Goodies included a stunning drake Tufted Duck (rare as hens teeth here) a ringtail Montagu's Harrier north at 09.30 and a female/imm male Golden Oriole which I came across in the trees in the ditch along the cycle path behind Stone Lees at just after 7.00am.The bird flew across into the willows on the north fence-line of Stonelees where it perched in full view before heading off into the poplar plantation just across the path where it could be heard screeching unseen on and off. I did hang around for about 10 plus minutes waiting for views but soon got bored waiting and moved away. Other 'bits' included the resident Brent,13 Little Egrets, 1+ Cuckoo, 75 Little Terns, 6 Sandwich Terns, 6 Turtle Dove, 1 Peregrine, 1 Hobby, 1 Marsh Harrier (shellness) and a Saker type falcon which I spotted in the salt marsh up near the garage before it decided to fly down and land right in front of me in the close salt marsh to feed on a small wader it must have nabbed while I was wandering around the bushes. I presume it's the bird that's been reported at Saint Margarets Bay recently? It looked like a Saker to me it was quite a lump and brown coloured. I've been doing early morning sessions (first light) all this week plus there were so many waders out on the mud yesterday that I also went back down for the afternoon incoming tide which proved a complete waste of time. Yesterday there were 420 Ringed Plover, 280 Sanderling, 11 Common Sandpiper, 2 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint etc out on the mud plus there was a surprise Nightjar in Stone Lees early morning. There have been varying amounts of migrant waders regularly all week plus there was Roseate Tern on Monday morning but not much else worthy of mention (Phil M)

Friday 15th May 2009 King George VI Park Ramsgate Thanet

An early morning visit today to King George VI Park produced one exceptionally elusive Golden Oriole, which was flying (with powers of invisibility!) from tree to tree around the children's play area. The bird was still there when I left at 7.20am. (Richard Jermy)

Thursday 14th May 2009 Dumpton Thanet, Sandwich Bay Area & Worth

Before livening home several Starlings dropped into the garden, this is a new occurrence as i haven't seen Starlings in my garden for a long time, Sandwich Bay area was very different today with most of yesterdays arrivals moved on, the Restharrow Scrape held 2 Common Sandpipers, 1 Yellow Wagtail, and the rest of its normal Ducks & Waders, out on worth Marshes 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Cuckoos, Reed Warbler & Sedge Warblers in the ditches, and two small flocks of Linnets bush hopping with lots of Whitethroats scattered about the marsh 2 Stonechats, 2 Corn Buntings back on the highway. (Gadget)

Thursday 14th May 2009 Shuart to Reculver and back

An early morning walk from Shuart to Reculver and back was reasonably entertaining, although there was not much left of yesterday’s large arrival of Spotted Flycatchers and Garden Warblers. A Quail was calling just south of the Oyster Farm, and other bits included 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Nightingale, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Little Owl, 1 Tree Pipit, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Cetti’s Warblers, 1 Avocet, 1 Pochard, 6 Cuckoos, 10 Grey Plovers, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank, 9 Common Sandpipers, 19 Sanderling, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, 1 Kittiwake, 3 Curlews, 19 Sanderling, 1 Eider and 1 Turtle Dove. Broods of young are beginning to appear, including Shoveler, Little Grebe and Mallard, whilst a steady movement of hirundines included 290 Swallows and 24 Sand Martins heading west. A Reed Warbler and Garden Warbler in my garden at Westgate were unusual. (Tim H)

Wednesday 13th May 2009   King George VI Park Ramsgate

An early morning walk 06.15-07.30hrs up-to the park in breezy and damp conditions in the hope for a eastern gem was the order of the day, therefore i was not out for very long. Many of the local Thrushes and Parrots were evident with Blackbirds and Song Thrushes feeding young. The odd blast of song from Blackcaps and a single Chiffchaff, a male Sparrowhawk over and a Flycatcher sp was seen briefly but was lost in the sycamore leafs/wind. Only bird of real note was a Reed Warbler quietly singing near the closed ice cream shop, maybe more things are lurking, we shall see after this weather moves through? (Craig Sammels)

Wednesday 13th May 2009 Sandwich Bay Area

This morning within the Sandwich bay area 2 Icterine Warblers, 2 Pied Flycatchers, also 1 Spotted Flycatchers, and Common Redstart was seen by others and a Wood Sandpiper was on the Restharrow Scrape, (Gadget)   

Wednesday 13th May 2009 Stodmarsh NNR

The Black-winged Pratincole was again viewable from the Marsh hide from 09:50 to 11:20hrs before it flew off in the Stodmarsh village direction - may well return as it seems to like the vista from the Marsh hide! Other bits included 6+ Greenshank, a Little Stint & a Common Sandpiper from Harrisons. Apparently a drake Garganey was present in front of the Ramp (Ben Ring)

Tuesday 12th May 2009 Grove Ferry Area

Once again the Black-winged Pratincole was found by Mare Heath this morning at the Marsh-hide Well done Marc, the bird was seen and photographed throughout the day, Steve Ashton among them he has sent two photos along with one from Marc Heath for the website, other bits seen included 2 Avocets, 8 Greenshanks, 3 Marsh Harriers, 1 Garganey and the usual ducks from the ramp, all this in very blustery conditions. (Gadget)  

Sunday 10th May 2009 Reculver Area

Big news of the day was a Black-winged Pratincole found by Mare Heath this morning Well done Marc, A phone Call from Tim Hodge alerting me to this news and after a few phone call I picked up Craig S and we were on our way over to Reculver The Pratincole was already be watched by several other birders and Fantastic Views of flight display were observed by all, some others birders were taking photographs, which i will post when or if they arrive, (Gadget)  

Sunday 10th May 2009 North Foreland

Still very quiet, On territory at North Foreland - Whiteness there are 6 Whitethroats and 3 Chiffchaffs, The only migrants today being a trickle of Swallows, 4 House Martins and singles of Tree Pipit, Willow Warbler, Turtle Dove, Sedge Warbler, Yellow Wagtail and Hobby, Over the sea 2 Whimbrel and 40 Black-headed Gulls heading down Channel. (Simon Mount)

Sunday 10th May 2009 Ash Area

Having neglected my usual Patch walk (covering Ash, Goldstone & part of the Ash Levels) for a couple of weeks it was not particularly surprising to hear/see so many migrants that have appeared during my absence. What was a surprise was a reeling Grasshopper Warbler along Goldstone Drove ( a first for me for this site) A stealthy wait of some ½ hour eventually produced a fleeting glimpse - marvellous! Four Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Turtle Dove, 3 Cuckoo, 2 Yellow Wagtail were also encountered & it was pleasing to see several House Martin investigating historic nest sites at Lower Goldstone. (Ben Ring)

Sunday 10th May 2009 Big Walk May 9^th2009 Late News

Derek Smith, Patrick Giles and I decided to do a “big walk” on May 9^th to see how many species we could see on foot in a day. We started at Grove Ferry at 3.30 in the morning and finished at Shuart Farm at 9.00 in the evening, having walked 23 miles. We recorded 109 species, including Montagu’s Harrier, 5 Garganey, a splendid male Whinchat, 3 different pairs of breeding Long-eared Owls, including two squeaking juveniles, several Nightingales, 10+ Garden Warblers, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Bittern, several Tawny Owls, 1 Barn Owl, 5 Turtle Doves, 2 Goldcrests, 3 Greenshank, 1 White-fronted Goose, 2 Buzzards, 1 Hobby, 23 Corn Buntings, 1 Eider, 5 Wheatears, 4 Whimbrel and 2 Guillemots. There were a few near misses during the day (Kingfisher only seen by one of us and poor views of a Curlew so we didn’t count it), plus a couple of likely species (Grey Partridge and Little Owl) weren’t cooperating, so we just missed the record of 111, but it’s there to be beaten. (Tim H)

Thursday 7th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

Had a look at the rising tide, 09-00hrs to 10.15hrs 70 Sandwich Terns, 1  Brent, 11 Bar tailed Godwits, 12 Whimbrel, 2 Grey Plover, 7 Ringed Plover, 11 Dunlin, 1 Sanderling, 1 Turnstone.  Also a Willow Warbler singing near the car park. (Nick Lever)

Wednesday 6th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

Another dull early morning wander around all the paths and bushes turned up virtually nothing once again. I started off at 06.00hrs and was home for 09.30hrs having walked and cycled the entire area and watched the incoming tide. There was a decked Tree Pipit on the country park which is a real rarity plus a Wheatear flew across the salt marsh and landed somewhere down on the sea wall otherwise the highlights were a peak spring count of 4 Sedge Warblers (I told you it was dull didn't I?) 3 Lesser Whitethroats, 2 Turtle Doves (plus another 3 west) and not much else! Overhead a scattering of Swifts and Hirundines added up to about 60 Swifts southwest plus 35 Swallows, 4 House Martins and 4 Sand Martins mainly north, Other than a single Yellow Wagtail over that was about it. I watched the incoming tide for the last hour of my stay seeing 1 Little Egret,1 Brent, 4 Common Scoter south, 6 Gannets south, 39 Whimbrel,15 Dunlin, 13 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank,1 Grey Plover,11 Ringed Plover, c12 Sandwich Tern, 6 Little Tern and 4 Common Tern. Birds of the day were 2 Greylags that flew west over my back garden just after 05.00hrs this morning!! Happiness is a pair of Greylags flying over a concrete backdrop - lovely! (Phil M)

Tuesday 5th May 2009 Pegwell Bay

I popped down for a couple of hours this morning. Noteworthy stuff included 2 Black Terns north over the sea, 2 Mediterranean Gulls south plus a 3rd or 4th year Yellow-legged Gull waddling around on Shellness point. It's only the third time I've seen Black Terns there during the spring if memory serves correct so I was quite pleased to see them. They are surprisingly scarce down there during spring. I did take a few counts which were 1 Brent, 2 Greylag, 9 Common Scoter - north,1 Gannet - north, 3 Little Egret, 1 Dunlin, 28 Bar-tailed Godwit, 9 Whimbrel, 1 Turnstone, 1+ Peregrine, 1 Hobby, 1 Cuckoo, 20 Swift, 30 Swallow, 8 Sandwich Tern and 3 Common Tern. (Phil M)

Tuesday 5th May 2009 North Foreland

A Green Sandpiper flushed from the new reservoir alongside the 17^th fairway late yesterday evening and flew south against the wind. (Brian Short)

Monday 4th April 2009 Pegwell Bay

I was going to award myself the day off what with the bank holiday Monday madness and all that but I eventually cracked and went down to watch the evening tide. I was hoping for a few Terns but there were not very many about unfortunately. My notes for the short session were 1 Brent, 103 Shelduck, 42 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Turnstone, 3 Grey Plover, 31 Dunlin, 11 Whimbrel, 9 Curlew, 5 Knot, c20 Sandwich Tern, 2 Common Tern and 3 Little Tern. There were also 2 Little Gulls loitering and feeding offshore. (Phil M)

Monday 4th April 2009 Pegwell Bay

Had a look between 06.15 and 08.15hrs some excitement when I saw a Swift with a white belly, I didn't get great views but it appeared to be an aberrant Common Swift.  In the bay were 4 Little Tern, 4 Sandwich Tern, c30 Whimbrel, 30+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 15 Dunlin, 5 Ringed Plover, 1 Grey Plover, 2 Greenshank and a lone Brent Goose, 3 more Common Swift and a Sand Martin headed north. (Nick Lever)

Sunday 3rd May 2009 Pegwell Bay

I went down to watch the incoming tide this morning. I also had a brisk walk around Stonelees and the Country Park where I came across a real biggee - when I noticed a Red-legged Partridge feeding out on Pfizer’s playing fields!! There were also a few new waders on the tide which included a male Kentish Plover, 11 Black-tailed Godwit, 16 Bar-tailed Godwit, 13 Whimbrel, 1 Common Sandpiper etc. The Kentish Plover was still present at 7.30 where it was hanging about up near the hover pad with a pair of Ringed Plover. My other notes for the day were of 5+ Little Egrets including a pair watched flying in off the sea for ten minutes,1 Greylag, 1 Brent, 93 Shelduck, 3 Common Scoter -south, 4 Gannet, 1 Peregrine, 2 Turtle Dove, 1 Cuckoo, 2 Sandwich Tern, 3 Sedge Warbler plus 2 Sand Martin and 45 Swallows arriving in off the sea. (Phil M)

Sunday 3rd May 2009 Stodmarsh NNR

With a few glaring omissions in my year list, I headed over to Stodmarsh NNR. The missing birds were quickly located, Common Swift, Sand Martin and around 09.30hrs, a Hobby flew over the main lake. Common migrants were well represented with Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Sedge & Reed Warbler, Cuckoo, Swallow, House Martin, Common Tern, Blackcap and Nightingale all recorded on my wandering. A drake Pochard was the most unusual duck I noted with Great Crested Grebe, Shelduck and Cormorant out on the main lake. 3 Marsh Harrier and 2 Kestrel were the only other raptors I saw during the morning. I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised by the extensive work done by the guys of Natural England, the area in front of the Marsh Hide looks particularly impressive. (Dylan)

Saturday 2nd May 2009 North Foreland

A few extra things around this morning with counts of :- 3 Chiffchaffs, 5 Willow Warblers, 6 Whitethroats, 7 Swifts, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 30+ Swallows, 2 Siskins and singles of House Martin, Tree Pipit, Wheatear and Redpoll. A Hobby went through heading inland at the farm a fledged juv. Blackbird  (Simon Mount)

Saturday 2nd May 2009 Minster Marshes

A superb start to the "Bank Holiday" weekend; wall to wall sunshine and a gentle breeze from the SW - cracking! I parked in Station Approach just after 07.30hrs and walked my regular route to the water treatment works then west, alongside the River Stour.  Lots of common migrants around the area, I recorded 3 Nightingale, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Turtle Dove, 2 Cuckoo, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Chiffchaff plus Yellow Wagtail, Swallow,  Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Reed & Sedge Warbler in good numbers. The surprise of the session came in the form of a Dark-bellied Brent Goose, swimming in the River Stour at the same spot the Grey Seal had occupied in March. (Dylan)

Saturday 2nd May 2009 Newington Thanet

Whilst messing around with making an umpteenth light diffuser for my moth photos in my back garden this afternoon the local Gulls alerted me first to a flyover Hobby then a viciously mobbed Common Buzzard flew west at 14.20hrs (Phil M)

Saturday 2nd May 2009 Pegwell Bay

I watched between 05.45 and 10.15hrs this morning - walking all the bushes early on before watching the dropping tide and sky watching for most of the time after 7.00.The bushes were virtually devoid of new passerines and other than very good numbers of Whitethroats and all the other common Warblers I hardly saw anything of note whatsoever, I had a rough tally of the singing Whitethroats present between the cliff top and Stonelees and found there to be in excess of 45 birds this morning, Nice to know that at least one specie is doing okay these days - it's the only one mind you, Of note today were a Short-eared Owl that was hunting across on Shellness between 08.30 and 09.30hrs, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 nice Black-tailed Godwits and a flighty Temminck's Stint which I saw a couple of times between the river then briefly around the new scrape before it flew off n/east, today’s counts were: 2 Greylag, 1 Brent, 1 Eider, 18 Curlew, 15 Whimbrel,145 Oystercatcher, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Common Sandpiper, 6 Dunlin, 9 Sanderling, 2 Lapwing, 2 Ringed Plover, 8 Little Egret, 38 Sandwich Tern, 1 Common Tern, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 3+ Sparrowhawk, 1 Turtle Dove, 1 Reed Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Garden Warbler plus a bit of Swift and Hirundine movement added up to 37 Swift, 44 Swallow, 7 House Martin and 11 Sand Martin all flying north. (Phil M)

Friday 1st May 2009 Pegwell Bay

It was awfully very slow a lot this morning. I watched until 11.30 and the only new birds I could see were 26 Sandwich Terns, a migrant Sparrowhawk which flew north and a Hobby which flew inland mid morning. I went down to Foreness yesterday evening where I saw the carnage of the cliff top where all the long grass has been mown for extra access for dog walkers a horrific sight for a semi retired Forness birder - yuk!! The wonders of the new migrant trap - the reservoir behind the school was my next port of call - it's the first time I've seen it. After seeing the state of the cliff top I had to fight the urge to chuck myself into the reservoir but that's another story. The reservoir held 2 Herring Gulls which was nice (hee hee) and I saw a fantastic Peregrine hunt going on along Foreness cliff top with a bird stooping as it tired to catch something off the rocks by the sewage pipe. The only other migrants I noticed were 2 House Martins. (Phil M)