'Kumlien's' Gull - Justin Sneddon

An apparent 'Kumlien's' Iceland Gull was seen and photographed at Minnis Bay on the 4th. It was seen briefly before flying East. The discoverer was out to film seabirds for his vlog and noticed this gull was different from what he knew and quickly took a few photos from which the bird could be ID-ed (although perhaps not easy to clinch with 100% certainty). There have only been 5 accepted records of this scarce subspecies from Canada in Kent before, the most recent being at Dungeness in 2021. The Red-flanked Bluetail remained in its favourite area at Crockham Hill Common. It continued to be elusive, but with patience showed well at times. A further highlight was a Common Crane which flew over Worth Marshes on the 29th. The group of Tundra Bean Goose at Worth remained, but was reduced by 7 to 20. Intriguingly, a group of 7 'winter geese' then showed up on Walland Marsh on the 1st, but these turned out to be four Tundra Bean Geese while three were Pink-footed Geese. It is probably a coincidence, although the Worth group was thought to have visited Walland Marsh before arriving at Worth back in early winter.

Red-flanked Bluetail - David Langham

Hawfinches have been scarcer this year compared to last year, but singles were reported at Eastling and Bedgebury this week. While other finches, such as Brambling and Crossbills, generally have also been scarcer this winter, there have been relatively large numbers of thrush, for instance 800 Fieldfare were counted on Walland Marsh this week. Three Snow Bunting were still at Coldharbour Lagoon near Reculver throughout the week. Last week's Slavonian Grebe at Collard's Lake turned out to be a Black-necked Grebe, the distance at which this lake can be viewed always a challenge. The Greater Scaup remained there as well, with four seen on Alpha Pool at Cliffe this week. Hen Harriers, Purple Sandpiper, Caspian Gulls, Greater White-fronted Geese, Whooper and Bewick's Swans all continue to be seen in their usual winter places, although Short-eared Owls were reported a bit less this week.

Hen Harrier - Shane Vale

In terms of sea-watching, 66 Little Gull past North Foreland on the 3rd was a good count, while four Greater Scaup were on the sea at Swalecliffe and two Great Northern Diver and six Merganser were offshore at Tankerton. A handful of Black-throated Diver were also reported, while the five Eider remained in the Foreness area.

At the end of January, the unofficial Kent year list stands at 181, three behind last years. We have seen most typical species for this time of year although Red-necked Grebe, Smew and Waxwing are among the possible additions. Good luck.

Peter Eerdmans

 Purple Sandpiper - Peter Maton

(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)