Kent Ornithological Society 
Ruddy Shelduck – Peter Eerdmans
A relatively quiet week, with the best bird being a Rosy Starling that was seen briefly in a private garden in Burmarsh on the 23rd. Another nice bird was a singing Serin on the morning of the 22nd at St Margaret’s at Cliffe. European Bee-eaters were seen or heard flying over Kingsdown on the 19th and on the 20th over Aycliffe.
Several White Storks toured the county, with the largest group a group of six over Betteshanger near Sandwich Bay. Wood Sandpipers have started to return with sightings at Oare, Worth, Dungeness and Bough Beech.
Other than that, a couple of Ospreys were seen (at Little Murston and Godmersham), while Little Gulls remained at Dungeness and Cliffe. The Red-crested Pochard pair at Dungeness was seen throughout the week with the single duckling. Another duck of ‘unknown’ origin, a Ruddy Shelduck, spent the week at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve.
There was not much to report from the relatively few sea-watching hours put in by the regular observers.
Not much change is expected in the weather, with more warm days on the horizon. With a Caspian Tern seen at Rye in the past week, that might be a good species to look out for. Good luck.
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)