Kent Ornithological Society 
Sand Martin – Marc Heath
Early spring continued to deliver a good mix of birds, with an influx of Hoopoe and a Black Kite, but the best bird was another subspecies, an apparent Ashy-headed Wagtail at Worth Marshes identified from photos taken on 29 March. This would only be the fifth record for Kent if accepted. Also known as ‘Italian Yellow Wagtail’, this subspecies breeds in Italy and winters in Central Africa. It is not easy to distinguish from Iberian Wagtail, another rare Yellow Wagtail subspecies, but the lack of a supercilium and darker head in the photo below are certainly supportive.
Hoopoes were seen in five different locations, Dungeness, Charring and three in the South East of the county. Although some sightings may involve the same bird, it certainly felt like a mini influx. Unfortunately, none of the birds stuck around very long.
A Black Kite was another good early migration spot on 31 March, leaving Charlton Wood, Kingston and heading off in a North Easterly direction. What is likely the same bird was then picked up flying over Worth Marshes. Further highlights included Blue-headed Wagtails at Dungeness and Worth, Ospreys over Bough Beech, Ash and New Romney and a Ring Ouzel at North Foreland. Another very good sighting at North Foreland was a fly-by ‘large pipit’ which unfortunately couldn’t be identified to species level.
In terms of summer migrants, we added House Martin, Common Tern and Hobby to the year list, with species like Cuckoo, Reed Warbler and Nightingale likely to arrive soon.
Sea-watching was a bit quieter this week, but 22 Velvet scoter, a Black-throated diver, a Great Northern Diver and 25 Garganey past Dungeness lightened up a few days. The Long-tailed duck and Greater Scaup remained at Dungeness and Collard’s Lake respectively.
With lots of sunshine forecast in the coming week, we can expect more nice birds to show up in the county. Enjoy.
Peter Eerdmans
Ashy-headed Wagtail – Worth – Adam Marek
(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)