Kittiwake – Dungeness – photo Martin Casemore
The best sighting of the week was a group of eight Twite that flew West over Coldharbour Lagoon on 25 January, a rare bird in Kent these days. Hopefully they can be re-found somewhere, a few used to winter on the Stoke Saltings on the Hoo Peninsula..
With very strong winds on several days in the past week, sea-watching seemed a decent option. The best sightings were three Sooty Shearwaters past the Dungeness sea-watching hide on 28 January.
Also past Dungeness a Red-necked Grebe (26 January) and a Little Gull (28 January). Two Whooper Swans and a Black-throated Diver flew past the watchpoint at North Foreland during the week, two Velvet Scooter flew past Foreness Point, while a Great Northern Diver was on the sea off Tankerton.
Up to three Tundra Bean Geese were at Capel Fleet over the period. With four Bewick Swans, 180 White-fronted Geese, four Spoonbills, over 30 Corn Buntings and a male Hen Harrier all along the Harty Ferry road there, it made for nice birding in the area. A bit further along at Leysdown, there was a Pale-bellied Brent with a large group of Dark-bellied Brent Geese. The four Tundra Bean Geese just over the county border at Scotney were seen flying into Kent on 27 January. Bewick Swans remained on Walland Marsh, while six Pink-footed Geese were at Boulderwall on 29 and 30 January.
Hawfinches were seen again at various locations, but interestingly other finches like Crossbills and Bramblings are very uncommon this winter, with no reports in the past week.
Other noteworthy sightings were similar to last week. All three uncommon winter ducks remained at their respective locations: Smew at Seaton GPs, Long-tailed Duck at Dungeness and Scaup at Collard’s Lake. Three Black-necked Grebes remained on Alpha Pool at Cliffe, with one at Dengemarsh, Dungeness on 30 January. The three Snow Buntings remained on the beach at Reculver, although those at Swalecliffe weren’t reported this week. Short-eared Owls, Hen Harriers and Caspian Gulls were seen around the county in the usual spots such as Elmley, Sandwich, Dungeness and Stodmarsh, with the Long-eared Owl still roosting near Elmley’s car park.
The weather in the coming week is looking quite nice, more sun and less wind. With plenty of good winter birds still around it should make for some enjoyable birding!
Peter Eerdmans
(Thanks to all the observers who posted their records on the KOS Sightings website, BirdGuides, eBird and/or the main Kent Birding WhatsApp groups, Thursday-to-Thursday. Apologies for any omissions. If anyone has any photos they think may be useful for the weekly, please send to me by Wednesday. All records of rarities are still subject to official confirmation by the relevant rarities committees)