Storm-petrel - Martin Casemore

Best bird of the week was a Corncrake that was flushed twice at Abbot's Cliff on the 28th. While it is a former breeder in the county, it is a rare bird in Kent these days, with typically only one (brief) sighting every few years. Sea-watching became more prominent. Top bird was a Storm-petrel past Dungeness on the 30th. There were decent numbers of Balearic Shearwaters seen, particularly past Dungeness where 49 were counted on the 30th and 30 on the 29th. Other reports included a Sabine's Gull past Dungeness on the 31st, Long-tailed Skuas past North Foreland and Walmer and a few Pomarine and Great Skuas at the usual watch points.

Red-backed Shrike - Martin Casemore

Dungeness experienced a nice fall of migratory songbirds on the 1st, headlined by a Red-backed Shrike and a Wryneck in the same area east of the Long Pits (with the Wryneck still there the next day). There were plenty of Willow Warblers, as well as two Grasshopper Warblers, three Redstarts and a Pied Flycatcher that day. Wader migration was also good across the county, with over 15 Little Stints reported throughout the week, but the highlight was a Dotterel over the trapping area at Dungeness on the 2nd. Across Dungeness, Pegwell, Stodmarsh and Cliffe, there were also a couple of Curlew Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, and a Temminck's Stint (at Pegwell on the 28th).

A few Osprey, Short-eared Owl and Honey Buzzard were seen again in coastal locations, while a White Stork flew over Dungeness on the 31st. The Purple Heron remained at Stodmarsh, the Bonaparte's Gull at Oare and the White-winged Tern at Dungeness (accompanied by up to 15 Black Terns). A juvenile Caspian Gull hung out at the fishing boats, Dungeness.

Osprey - Terry Laws

At the end of August, the unofficial year list for Kent stood at 271 species, still four ahead of last year's tally at this stage. We added seven species: Corncrake, Stone-curlew, Roseate Tern, White-winged Tern, Sabine's Gull, Storm-petrel and Wryneck. Can we add a mega in September? Good luck!

Peter Eerdmans

 White Stork - 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)