Saturday 19th September 2009 King George VI Park Ramsgate

A lovely warm morning in calm sunny conditions.  I had a quick look 
from 06.15 to 07.30.  3 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Common Redstart, 2 Lesser 
Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, 2+ Willow Warbler and 6+ Chiffchaff.
(Nick Lever)

Saturday 19th September 2009 Ash

A very welcome addition to my garden list this morning with the sighting of a pair of Spotted Flycatchers busy catching bugs from the tallest tree in a neighbour's garden. (Ben Ring)

Friday 18th September 2009 Swale Area

No Tufted Puffin on the Swale but was very pleased with a Little Egrets seen from the South Fleet Hide! Otherwise, two Peregrine sightings, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard sp & Kestrel seen. (Ben Ring)

Friday 18th September 2009 Nethercourt & Clifftop Area

I took today off work and birded Nethercourt Park and the nearby Chalk Hill / Clifftop / Hoverport area.  A few Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler were with a tit flock in the park, plus there was a Pied Flycatcher again. The fields near Chalk Hill had lots of meadow pipits and pied wagtails about 5 wheatears.  Paddocks held more Wheatears and a single Whinchat. Hoverport was very quiet save a single Common Redstart. On the way home though I decided to give the scrub and trees behind the Shell garage a final look and I caught sight of what looked like a Jay-sized Flycatcher swooping about catching bees !  It landed at the top of the tall conifer and I came to my senses and realised it was a Great Grey Shrike. I got my bins on it but I had walked too far from my scope to get to it before the bird flew off. I managed to get a few rubbish record shots just using my camera held in my hand. I stayed for a further hour until 2 pm but it did not appear again during that time. (Sheer size ruled out lesser grey for me - and you can't tell from the record shot). A stunning bird though ! (Scott)

Friday 18th September 2009 Pegwell Bay

I went down twice today - an early one then I decided to pop back for another look after dinner as I hadn't checked the west cliff during the morning. On arrival just before 07.00 it was apparent there was a little more visible migration going on with a flurry of Hirundines and a steady trickle of Meadow Pipits heading north/northwest for the first couple of hours of daylight at least. Between us (Me and Ben Lewis - the bloke whose just taken over from Tony Jolley) we saw at least 500 Meadow Pipits - also Ben had a Marsh Harrier plus a couple of Spotted Flycatchers - one on the country park and another in Stone Lees. There were also a few Wheatear, 2 Whinchat, 1 Redstart etc plus single flyover Grey Wagtail and a late Swift. I watched the incoming tide but once again it was awful there being only 7 Teal, 21 Wigeon, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Lapwing, 5 Ringed Plover, 9 Grey Plover, 85 Dunlin,1 adult Mediterranean Gull and about 15 Little Egrets. Other bits included 1 Hobby and a single Gannet. In the afternoon I checked the west cliff and the farm again. There were a lot more Wheatears (day total 25+)  3 Pied Flycatchers (1 west cliff terraces and 2 Courtstairs park) plus an Arctic Skua that I saw off the clifftop and 100+ Sandwich Terns sitting out on the mud near the hover port. (Phil M)

Thursday 17th September 2009 Pegwell Bay

I checked the whole area between the west cliff and Stone Lees today - also taking in a couple of stops off in the bird hide for the tide. The same Pied Flycatcher was in the same tree along Chiltern Lane for the third consecutive day plus I came across 2 Redstarts, 3 Whinchats and 26 Wheatear which were scattered here and there in all the locations barring Stone Lees. A few new Meadow Pipits were to be seen too - there being at least 30 on the farm fields alone. Otherwise only a dozen or so Chiffchaff, c10 Blackcap and 3 lesser Whitethroat could be found around the very blown out bushes. The mud flat was once again awful there being 79 Shelduck, 7 Wigeon, 1 Shoveler, 6 Teal, 1 Avocet, 620 Oystercatcher, 21 Knot, 50 Dunlin, 7 Ringed Plover, 1 Peregrine, 160 Sandwich Tern and c40 Common Tern. (Phil M)

Wednesday 16th September 2009 Pegwell Bay

I went down and wandered around the farm and clifftop for a couple of hours after a quick look out over the mud flat and hover pad. This damned wind is driving me mental (though in truth I've been slightly mental since before this latest weather system arrived) and I will be extremely glad when it clears off!! Anyway the only birds I came across in winds strong enough to remove Johnny Webspers cleverly bolted on wig were 2 Brent, 105 Wigeon, 2 Peregrine, 150 Ringed Plover, 270 Dunlin, 1 Whimbrel, 225 Sandwich Tern, 13 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat, 1 Redstart and 2 Pied Flycatchers (Phil M)

Wednesday 16th September 2009 Stodmarsh NNR

A breezy walk around the reserve produced, amongst others, a pair of
Treecreeper by the alder wood, two Water Rail & a male Marsh Harrier from the Marsh Hide & a Yellow Wagtail near Harrisons Drove. Located the Glossy Ibis in the grazing marsh & viewable clearly, albeit at distance, from the riverbank. Rather amusingly it seemed to have ditched the smaller white Little Egrets & was hanging out with the considerably larger white birds, a pair of Mute Swans! (Ben Ring)

Tuesday 15th September 2009 Pegwell Bay

I had intended to watch the incoming tide in the morning but wimped out at the last minute as I was worried about getting wet! The word 'tart' springs to mind? I did however pop down in the early afternoon and spent two and a half hours wobbling around the cliff top, farm and hover pad. There was a Pied Flycatcher in the trees along Chiltern Lane and there were 18 Wheatear and 3 Whinchat scattered around the rest of the area. Franny the wonderhair also saw three decked Tree Pipits near the sunken garden. I had a couple of looks at the mud flat seeing 22 Canada Geese, 1 Greylag, 61 Shelduck, 8 Teal, 34 Wigeon, 140 Dunlin, 120 Ringed Plover, 3 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint and 53 Sandwich Tern. There were lots of Swallows gathering around the horse paddocks on the farm fields plus a few House Martin and 20+ Sand Martin. (Phil M)

Tuesday 15th September 2009 King George VI Park, Ramsgate

A visit after the rain from 10.30 to 12 in blustery conditions produced a Melodious Warbler in the middle copse, by the cycle path at 11.45.  It showed well for about twenty seconds revealing no obvious wing panel and rather short primary projection.  There were also 2 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 10 Chaffinch, 4 Stock Dove and overhead 2 Yellow 
Wagtails and c 20 Swallows. (Nick Lever)

Monday 14th September 2009 Foreness & Northdown Park

Just a brief look on the sea this morning showed little moving other than 100 Gannets in a 40mins watch. In the park there was a Common Redstart. (Rae Boulden)

Sunday 13th September 2009 Minnis Bay Clifftop

Buoyed by yesterdays success started at 07:30 Til 11:00 today. Again joined by Tim Hodge a nice fellow named Dave and Andrew Lipjinskyxzjyizx ( never quite sure of the spelling ). First sightings were of Sandwich & Common Tern with totals reached of 19 & 7. Really good view of an Adult Med Gull floating in the wind in front of us that Tim mused would make a nice photo but had left his camera in the car. Gannets drifted East & then gathered to feed nearer the horizon totalling approx 38. A juvenile Med Gull then did the Clifftop ariel pose, alas Tim still did not have his camera. Disappointingly low numbers of Skua's West were Bonxie 4, Arctic 1, and  a few Scoter. A Peregrine showed right of the Clifftop earlier and possibly the same bird was spotted coming across the Bay towards us later. It was a large female that showed brilliantly in front of us at the Clifftop, Tim went to his car & got his camera, unfortunately this heralded the end of birds displaying in front of us, infact pretty much of birds anywhere.       (Chris Solly)

Sunday 13th September 2009 Pegwell Bay

I had a quick look after the Grand Prix this afternoon - initially checking the farm, cliff top and hover port (seeing naff all) before deciding to watch the incoming tide from the hover port apron. There wasn't too much about and my notes were: 17 Little Egret, 68 Shelduck, 24 Mallard, 42 Teal, 3 Wigeon, 2 Peregrine, 2 Avocet, 680 Oystercatcher, 270 Curl, 1 Whimbrel, 2 Bar Tailed Godwit, 2 Grey Plover, 33 Knot, 60 Dunlin, 27 Sanderling and 108 Sandwich Tern. 3 Wheatear arrived upon the edge of the hover port while I was standing around. (Phil M)

Sunday 13th September 2009 North Foreland Area

I did a seawatch at Whiteness Point for an hour or so this morning. I had the following birds heading East :- 60 Gannets, 1 Diver, 1 Common Scoter and an Arctic Skua. Also 6 Wigeon heading West. A quick look round the bushes in Convent Road, I saw 2 Chiffchaffs and 2 Hobbies. (Simon Mount)

Saturday 12th September 2009 Minnis Bay Clifftop

Arrived at 08:15 and met Tim Hodge who'd arrived 10 minutes earlier. A slow hour and a half or so was spent during which time heading West were Arctic Skua 6, Bonxie 3, whilst against the one-way system East were Little Gull 3, Manx Shearwater 1, with a few Gannets, small party of Wigeon and single figures of Scoter. Swallows 34, were seen heading out to sea and a Sparrowhawk patrolled around the clifftop. (Chris Solly)

Friday 11th September 2009 Ramsgate Area

Single Whinchat on the fence by the allotments this morning before work.  A bit livelier this afternoon (but not much) when I returned, with 4 Whinchats by the fence, 2 flighty Redstarts in the bushes above the harbour tunnel and a Wheatear in the field. (Scott)

Friday 11th September 2009 Ramsgate Harbour and Pegwell Bay

I started off on the east pier - not expecting much in truth. An early Bonxie (06.30)  within two minutes of arriving raised hopes but proved misleading as I stayed a further 45 minutes and saw only 3 Gannets, a Common Scoter and 6 Sandwich Terns so I moved on up to the bay. It was a bit blown out and I didn't even bother going down to the country park and stone lees today as I just couldn't face it today. I spent another couple of hours kicking around the west cliff, farm and hover pad and came across a few bits which included 21 Wigeon, 2 Teal, 2 Shoveler, 11 Knot, 1 Avocet, 1 Lapwing, 1 Peregrine, 2 Whinchat, 1 Wheatear, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 17 Pied Wagtail, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and 10 Sand Martin. (Phil M)

Thursday 10th September 2009 - Our 6th anniversary

Just a quick word to thank all of those who have contributed to the success of Planetthanet.org, whether you have contributed sightings or just simply logged on to see what's about. Without your support this project would be worthless. Six years have simply flown by and we are still enjoying the wildlife of the Thanet area, as long as this continues Planetthanet will remain active and informative. Once again, We thank everyone involved - (Gadget & Dylan)

Thursday 10th September 2009 Pegwell Bay and Ramsgate Harbour

I arrived early on and went through my routine of working the area north to south. It was dire first thing with very little movement or any sign of any new arrivals. 2 Siskin flew west over the cliff, a Grey Wagtail south, 2 Yellow Wagtail south plus a Red Breasted Merganser out in the river mouth and a handful of Teal was about it so after half heartedly checking all the bushes right down to Stone Lees I decided to head off to the harbour for a quick look at the sea. The wind was in a better direction than yesterday but as there wasn't much cloud about I didn't hold out much hope. Anyway I watched for an hour seeing 8 Arctic Skua, 58 Gannets and a Diver specie south plus a Fulmer and a few Sandwich Terns fly north so it wasn't too bad. The Skuas went by in two groups of 4 so 8 in the hour makes it sound a lot better than it actually was. They were very distant too. On the way down I'd seen 8 Whinchats and a Wheatear between the cliff top and the west cliff so I decided to go back and take the long route home and have another look. There was a Pied Flycatcher that I'd missed first time round in Courtstairs and by the time I'd got back to the farm fields lots of Wheatears and Whinchats had arrived. The back edge of the farm fields where it meets the allotments were crawling with stuff - at least 12 Whinchats plus many Wheatear and a single Redstart were seen there within 30 seconds of arriving. All in all there were at least 30 Whinchat and 19 Wheatear scattered around the whole area. I also saw 10 Canada Geese, 10 Wigeon, 46 Teal and 3 Avocet from various point looking out over the mud flat during the session. Whilst delving into my garden moth traps a calling Tree Pipit flew west over the garden too. (Phil M)

Thursday 10th September 2009 N/Foreland, F/ness Point & N/down Park

I had a day off work, based on the weather forecast, in the hope of a few grounded migrants in the vicinity. Andy Lawson had come to the same area, but on a hunch that the winds might produce an interesting seawatch. My walk across to Foreness Point, via Elmwood venue and North Foreland, produced a very disappointing haul of migrants, just a handful of Chiffchaffs, 4 Wheatear and a few House Martins overhead. Andy was in position by the Foreness pumping station and had seen very little. Craig came to join in the fun, staying with Andy when I continued on my way to the Palm Bay recreation ground. 5 Whinchat were in the western hedgerow, but were quite flighty. On to Northdown Park where I found a few more Chiffchaffs and an immature male Common Redstart. Retracing my route, I checked Port Regis, finding two Pied Flycatchers along Convent Road. Back home by mid-day, I then joined Gadget, Craig and Andy to try sea watching as the tide came in. It was pants! We all headed off to Northdown Park where we found 2 (or 3?) Common Redstart, 5 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Common Whitethroat and a couple more Chiffs. Eagle-eyed Lawson came up with bird of the day when he found a Treecreeper, only my 3rd Thanet sighting in nine years! A very enjoyable day's birding despite the fact that both Andy's and my hunches had not paid off. Good company and the associated banter more than making up for the lack of birds. (Dylan)

Thursday 10th September 2009 Pegwell Bay & R/gate Harbour

I arrived early on and went through my routine of working the area north to south. It was dire first thing with very little movement or any sign of any new arrivals. 2 Siskin flew west over the cliff, a Grey Wagtail south, 2 Yellow Wagtail south plus a Red Breasted Merganser out in the river mouth and a handful of Teal was about it so after half heartedly checking all the bushes right down to Stone Lees I decided to head off to the harbour for a quick look at the sea. The wind was in a better direction than yesterday but as there wasn't much cloud about I didn't hold out much hope. Anyway I watched for an hour seeing 8 Arctic Skua, 58 Gannets and a Diver specie south plus a Fulmer and a few Sandwich Terns fly north so it wasn't too bad. The Skuas went by in two groups of 4 so 8 in the hour makes it sound a lot better than it actually was. They were very distant too. On the way down I'd seen 8 Whinchats and a Wheatear between the cliff top and the west cliff so I decided to go back and take the long route home and have another look. There was a Pied Flycatcher that I'd missed first time round in Courtstairs and by the time I'd got back to the farm fields lots of Wheatears and Whinchats had arrived. The back edge of the farm fields where it meets the allotments were crawling with stuff - at least 12 Whinchats plus many Wheatear and a single Redstart were seen there within 30 seconds of arriving. All in all there were at least 30 Whinchat and 19 Wheatear scattered around the whole area. I also saw 10 Canada Geese, 10 Wigeon, 46 Teal and 3 Avocet from various point looking out over the mud flat during the session. Whilst delving into my garden moth traps a calling Tree Pipit flew west over the garden too. (Phil M)

Wednesday 9th September 2009 Pegwell Bay &R/gate Harbour

A day to forget birdwise even though I managed a good car tick when I was overtaken by a stunning red Ferrari 599 on my arrival at Pegwell, which obviously I wont forget in a hurry. I watched the sea off the east pier on two occasions today from 06.00 - 07.50 then again between 12.10 and 1300 but it was horribly slow. In the early session I managed one Arctic Skua and a single Little Gull (there was another Skua in the bay chasing the Sandwich Terns as well) then on my second go I had 20 minutes of nothing then 30 seconds where I saw a Bonxie and 2 Arctic Skuas then a further 20 minutes of nothingness - so I packed up and when home! Inbetween times as I stood around looking at a blank seascape amongst the strong whiff of stale wee and other even more horrible unmentionable stuff, I waddled around Pegwell for many hours seeing very little. There was a Spotted Flycatcher in Stone Lees and out on the mud there was a Little Stint and 2 Avocets. Other than an increase of Teal (72 in total) the only other things of any note were the first Wigeon and Siskin of the autumn - 7 and 2 north respectively. There still are not any Wheatears about even though I checked all the best spots - some bits 2 or 3 times. No sign of Fantailicus Boriscimus today - there were many rather bored looking people wandering around with hunched shoulders but no-one had any joy with the bird I'm told. It looked like a scene from one of those Zombie films as I scanned across from the hover port early doors. (Phil M)

Wednesday 9th September 2009 Stodmarsh NNR

Glossy Ibis still viewable from the Marsh Hide today. Had a couple of brief sightings while 'otherwise engaged' at noon & 4pm (Ben Ring)

Wednesday 9th September 2009 Nethercourt park

Single Pied Flycatcher in Nethercourt park this morning in a short visit before work. (Scott)

Tuesday 8th September 2009 Pegwell Bay

A very weird day today. I arrived just after 6.30 and had a look around the hover port. There wasn't much going on so I headed towards the Country Park anticipating there being a bit of birder activity as I'd already seen a few bods waddling around the Cisticola area across the bay. As it happened there were not too many people about so I settled in to taking my normal route. As I walked across the path inland of the hide I spotted the Fan Tail Warbler flying into some low scrub so after rounding up the few birders who were already there I carried on with my normal daily drudge around the bits I'd not already looked at. Although there were quite a few warblers around the bushes the only noteworthy thing I noticed was a Spotted Flycatcher. The Cisticola had disappeared according to the other birders when I got back and hadn't been seen since before 8.00 so I decided to have a walk around Stonelees. Imagine my surprise when I arrived in the centre bit of the reserve (south of the bonfire site) and there bold as brass, showing really well and calling it's head off was a/the Fan tailed Warbler!!! This was just after 09.00 and being a quarter of a mile away from where the bird had shown in the morning had my brain in a real muddle? I phoned Craig/Gadget (who were still awaiting views in the Country Park) and said there 'might' be two birds but before they could get to Stone Lees it flew off - right up into the sky and flew a further quarter of a mile away - over the salt marsh and river right across to the sampher at Sandwich Bay at least!! Thinking that this would be the last we'd see of the bird for a while at least I went back to tell the people present that they might as well pack up as the bird had flown off well away from the area when about 20 minutes later it showed up back in the original spot?? Barry Hunt and I had heard a possible 'zit' call high overhead  a few minutes prior to the bird re-showing so thinking about it with a clearer head it's far more probable that there must be just one bird which we heard as it came back - it just being very mobile!! That said if it hadn't have been such a rarity I would have definately considered there being two birds - its all guess work of course. There was another Spotted Flycatcher in Stone Lees but not much else. I mulled around until about 11.00 yakking with a few faces I hadn't seen in ages before cycling back home. As I reached Cliffsend I could see a Swift wheeling around high in the sky over the back of the houses along the main road - hang on I thought - it doesn't look right. I pulled up and lifted my binoculars to see a brilliant Alpine Swift which by then was flying east at pace. The bird flew right out over the hover port and across the mud flat when I lost it as I was wobbling around sitting on my bike. The bird was distant however and may even have headed straight out to sea? It was still quite high in the sky as it went. I peddled up to the hover port entrance and stopped a while picking one or two distant Common Buzzards but didn't get a sniff of the Swift. Other 'bits' seen during the morning included 10 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Grey Wagtails and a Tree Pipit all south plus 28 Little Egrets, a Peregrine and a few Sparrowhawks etc. (Phil M)

Monday 7th September 2009 Pegwell Bay

A mammoth long winded session between 6.30 until after 1 o'clock was undertaken today. Numbers of small stuff were down though there was still enough around to keep my interest - well until about 10.00am anyway. There was a small fall of mainly Reed Warblers on and around the hover port first thing amongst them was a nice Grasshopper Warbler which showed well but briefly to my pishing in the scrub near the old fence on the southern edge. A Hobby showed nicely at one point too. Otherwise things were quiet up at the northern end of the recording area - I've yet to see a Wheatear up there at all this autumn. Down onto the country park where there were many Blackcaps and 4 Spotted Flycatchers (there were at least ten there after I left yesterday!!) plus a few other bits and bobs then at 9.15 whilst doing my best to daydream the rest of the morning away I heard an odd call coming from somewhere overhead and it was the Fan Tailed Warbler - it flew backwards and forwards for about 30 seconds happily 'zitting' away before being lost to sight as it dipped down out of the sky slightly north of me. I spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon raptor watching, interspersed with much yakking and eventually watching the incoming tide. The raptor watch and tide were pants as was much of the chit chat save the annual big meet with that fantastic old timer Johnny 'the wig' Websper who kept me up to date with the world of an OAP birder/butterfly watcher come part time sports zimmer frame tester. His tales regarding the firing mechanism on a 1754 flintlock pistol he bought brand new as a much younger man had us all enthralled. Much better than standing around being bored by bird chat anyway. Anyway - another strange thing happened as we stood around awaiting the tide. At one point all the birds went ballistic out on the mud so as we scanned around looking for an Osprey or whatever had caused the rumpus we noticed a juvenile Gannet flying across the mud then right upriver until it was lost to sight! The only things of note on the tide were singles of Avocet, Whimbrel plus about 45 Sandwich Terns. Earlier on whilst scanning from the hover port at low tide I had seen 300+ Dunlin, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 3 Grey Plover and c50 Ringed Plover. The 22 Canada Geese were still present out in the river/shellness area. (Phil M)

Monday 7th September 2009 Stodmarsh NNR & Pegwell Bay

We visited Grove Ferry at 10.00 am and, from the Marsh hide managed good views of the Glossy Ibis. Whilst at Grove a tip off that a Fan Tailed Warbler had been spotted sent us hot foot to Pegwell Bay only to find that the bird had indeed been spotted by Phil M at 9.15am but not seen since. An intense search of the area around the bird hide failed to produce a sighting so at 2.00pm we left. We did, however, see a Willow Warbler and good numbers of Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats and Goldfinches. Overhead at 1.15pm 3 Ravens closely pursued by a Peregrine.  (Barry Woolhouse and Malcolm McVail)

Sunday 6th September 2009 Stodmarsh NNR

A trip over to Bybrook Barn, Ashford, seemed a small price to pay for the chance to twitch a Glossy Ibis that was present in front of the Marsh Hide. I arrived around 16.15hrs and was at the hide before 16.35hrs. The bird was still present, yet extremely elusive, hidden by reeds away to the left towards the river. A couple of tantalizingly brief glimpses were obtained before I was treated to a period of high activity as the bird flew around the area on three separate occasions. Photos were obtained, but ISO 1600 1/800th sec and the 1.4x teleconverter/500mm lens meant that images were nothing more than record shots. (Dylan)

Sunday 6th September 2009 Sandwich Bay Estate

The first Sunday of the month so, as is normal, the "camera club" meet at Sandwich Bay Obs. Gadget and I were on our way by 08.50hrs, arriving some 20 minutes later. Getting out of the car, it was obvious that there were loads of birds around the area. 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap and a Great Tit were in the adjacent hedgerow, none were wearing BTO jewellery. The ringers reported large numbers of warblers in the nets, so we headed off to the "Gullies" where we found good numbers of Chiffchaff with a few Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap and 3 Common Whitethroat. A fly by something had us searching for a possible Red - backed Shrike (I just had that feeling - couldn't claim anything but still felt right for a shrike) when Ian Hodgson's mobile announced that Ian Hunter had just found a Fan-tailed Warbler at Pegwell. A mass exodus from the Obs was, sadly, to no avail - the bird was never relocated. Still it was quite an eventful morning. (Dylan & Gadget)

Sunday 6th September 2009 Pegwell Bay

Early morning cloud and light winds encouraged me to go out after blocking up the moth traps - I eventually arrived on site for around 6.30 and covered most of the area during a four hour trudge. The west cliff, cliff top and farm were bird free zones but there were many warblers scattered between the southern edge of the hoverport and Stone Lees - the country park especially was packed with small groups of passerines moving southwards early on in the day. A half decent arrival of Blackcap and Chiffchaff (80+ and 60+ respectively) plus many Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler plus a few Willow Warbler and 2 Garden Warbler were sifted through though all I could find amongst them were 3 Spotted Flycatcher - 2 on the country park and 1 in Stone Lees plus 2 Whinchat. Overhead there were a few hirundines moving south plus 1 Swift, 5 Yellow Wagtail, a few Meadow Pipits and 1 Tree Pipit. The mud flat turned up 6 Whimbrel, 1 Greenshank, 2 Grey Plover, 80+ Ringed Plover, 260 Dunlin and 3 Curlew Sandpiper. Far and away the most unusual sighting of the morning were the 22 Canada Geese (plus 1 Greylag) that were swimming around in the river mouth. (Phil M)

Sunday 6th September 2009 Nicholas Marsh

Me and a friend were out on St Nicholas Marsh a bird flew over us and we both recognized it at the same time a Glossy Ibis, it was flying west towards Chislet, I reported the sighting and its been seen at Stodmarsh today, (George Cooper)

Friday 4th September 2009 Ramsgate Harbour

Today I had my first Kingfisher sighting of the Autumn 2009. The date last year was 5th September. (Simon Mount)

Thursday 3rd September 2009 Deal

Whilst out and about in Deal at 18.45hrs this evening 4 Ravens flew over calling and heading North. There were also 2 Common Swifts feeding with about 20 House Martins over the town. (Nick Lever)

Thursday 3rd September 2009 Dumpton garden