Kent Ornithological Society 
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Hume's Warbler - Greg Lee
The third Hume's Warbler of the autumn was finally more cooperative and showed on and off throughout the week in the trapping area at Sandwich Bay. It was first discovered on the 21st. The elusive Hume's Warbler at Kingston was seen again albeit briefly on the 23rd. A Dusky Warbler was reported heard-only from Elmley also on the 23rd. After several brief sightings, including three at Elmley on the 23rd, a Shore Lark finally lingered on Prince's Beach at Sandwich Bay from the 24th, where there were also four Snow Bunting present. Further Snow Buntings were seen at Conyer, Swalecliffe, Reculver and Minnis Bay.
A White-tailed Sea-eagle, presumably from the Isle of Wight reintroduction program, toured the county and was seen at Oare Marshes as well as Stodmarsh. A Serin was seen in the Moat at Dungeness on the 21st, while the two Glossy Ibis remained at Worth Marshes.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Little Gull - Martin Casemore
A Hume's Warbler was seen on the morning of the 17th near the golf club at Kingsdown. Unfortunately it could not be refound later. While being the second Hume's for the autumn, this would only be the 22nd record for Kent if accepted. A Pallas's Warbler also at Kingsdown on the 17th was a nice consolation prize for those looking for the Hume's. A few Serin's were heard and seen flying over this week, at Dungeness, Langdon Cliffs and Cliftonville.
In terms of sea-watching, the passage of good numbers of Little Gull and Kittiwake on the 14th was one of the highlights. Foreness had the highest count of Little Gull at 201, while at North Foreland 2016 Kittiwakes were counted that day. Sabine's Gull has been relatively scarce this autumn, so one past Walmer beach on the 16th was a good record, as were a Black Guillemot pas Reculver on the 19th and a Grey Phalarope past Grenham Bay on the 17th. In total five Little Auk were still reported, with a support cast of several Velvet Scoters, Great Nothern Diver, Black Throated Diver, Pomarine Skua, Great Skua and Sooty Shearwater across the usual sea-watching spots. Red-necked Grebe was seen at Tankerton, Reculver and Grenham Bay, while an immature Long-tailed Duck was again in the Swale.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Desert Wheatear - Neil Burt
As calmer and more sunny weather arrived, this week proved excellent for finding rare and scarce birds in the county. Best was a beautiful male Desert Wheatear that was found at South Swale NR on the 8th. It showed well till late in the afternoon, but could not be found the next day. A typicaly late autumn vagrant, this is the 16th record for Kent and the first since the Joss Bay bird in 2021.
The Pallid Swift of Foreness/North Foreland remained into this week, and was joined by a second on the 8th, while a third was discovered flying over Dover Harbour that day. On the 7th, two Dusky Warblers were found, one at Foreness Point and one at Margate Cementery. This was only the start of what proved an excellent day for Phylloscopus warblers on the 8th. Another Dusky Warbler was discovered, at Westbrook a little further west along the coast from the Foreness bird which was still present that day. Particularly the Westbrook bird showed extremely well and stayed till the 12th. An amazing five Pallas's Warbler were seen on the 8th, with yet another at King George IV Park, two at Dungeness, of which one was trapped and ringed and lingered for the remainder of the week, one at Langdon Hole and one at Hope Point. This followed a single bird at Sandwich on the 7th. Surely the best week for this species in Kent in a long time. At least a dozen Yellow-browed Warblers were also seen during the week, while a Siberian Chiffchaff was at Bough Beech.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Pallid Swift - Kenton Evans
The best bird of the week was a Pallid Swift at Foreness Point on the morning of the 5th. After a couple of swift sp during the week, this one showed well for 30minutes and could be nailed down to species level. It was refound at Joss Bay the next morning and showed in the area at times during the remainder of the day. This is the 22nd for Kent with the Foreness-Joss Bay stretch of coast a bit of a hot spot for them.
With a lot of wind this week, attention turned to sea-watching. The best day was the 31st when the wind was most southerly. Dungeness fared particularly well that day with a Little Auk, a Puffin, two Sooty Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Great Nothern Diver, two Great Skua, storm petrel sp and two Velvet Scoter. In total over 5000s auks were counted that day, mostly Razorbill. A couple of Little Auk were reported from other locations this week, with singles past St Margaret's and Walmer. Leach's Storm Petrel were seen at Folkestone (on the 3rd) and Dungeness (on the 5th). A juvenile Long-tailed duck flew past Reculver on the 3rd, with a Greater Scaup past Sandwich Bay. A Pomarine Skua continues to hang around Swalecliffe with another sighting this week. One sorry Gannet was blown inland and ended up at Godmersham, and was subsequently taken into care.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Whooper Swans – Richard Hanman
The best bird of the week was a Long-billed Dowitcher at Worth Marsh found by one of the locals. Unfortunately it flew off relatively soon towards private land. Hopefully it can be refound in the area in coming days. If accepted this would be the 23rd for Kent and the first since 2018.
As the great run over recent weeks of rare and scarce song birds started to slow, the focus shifted to winter birding. Several more Whooper Swans entered the county, with up to six on Sheppey, two past North Foreland, one at Reculver and two at Walland Marsh. A Bean Goose sp flew past Sandwich on the 28th, a female-type Long-tailed Duck was on the South Swale on the 27th, while singles of Goldeneye and Goosander started to arrive. There were several Slavonian Grebes around, with 2-3 on the North Coast/Swale and one at Dungeness RSPB.
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Red-flanked Bluetail - Adrian Webb
An excellent week of autumn birding in Kent. The bird of the week was a 1st winter Red-flanked Bluetail which was first seen on the 18th at Margate Cementery. It was elusive, but with patience showed well at times throughout the week. This is only the 10th record for Kent. It was also an amazing week for rare and scare 'Phylloscopus' warblers, headlined by a Radde's Warbler that was found on the morning of the 17th at King George VI Memorial Park, Ramsgate. It performed better than last week's bird at Reculver, showing off and on till about mid-afternoon to assembled birders. A Hume's Warbler at Bockhill was also a great find on the 17th. There have only been 21 previous records of this species in the county. An amazing four Pallas's warbler were seen this week (at Dungeness, Margate Cementery, King George VI Park and Warden Point), while some 20 Yellow-browed Warblers were seen, primarily in the east of the county. The final 'Phyllo' of note, was Siberian Chiffchaff with one seen at Kingsdown and one caught and ringed at Dungeness.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Richard's Pipit - Brendan Ryan
Reculver was the place to be this week! On the 13th, one of the local birders discovered a Radde's Warbler at the Old Caravan Park. It showed well and was calling, but only briefly. Only one other observer managed a brief glimps, but after that the bird could unfortunately not be refound. There have been 28 records of Radde's Warbler in Kent, with the previous one in November 2021 at South Foreland. The next day a Richard's Pipit was seen, also at the Old Caravan Park, with amazingly a Red-breasted Flycatcher in the same spot as well on the afternoon of the 16th. A Wryneck was also in the area on the 14th (at Chamber's Wall), while Reculver also joined in with the increase of Yellow-browed Warblers around the county, with 2-3 in the area. Reculver certainly hit a purple patch this week, what else can be found there this autumn?
Overall at least 15 Yellow-browed Warblers were reported over the week, with most in the north-east of the county, especially Margate and Ramsgate. A Great Grey Shrike was a good find at Worth Marsh where it was present from the 14th.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Pallid Harrier - Matt Hindle
The best bird of the week was again a juvenile Pallid Harrier. Perhaps it was the same bird that was seen at Dungeness and South Foreland last week, but one was discovered on the North coast this time, in the Chambers Wall/Shuart area on the 6th. It lingered till the 7th offering good views throughout the day, and then was reported on the 8th at Oare. The third Red-breasted Flycatcher of the autumn was found at Pegwell Bay on the 8th, while a Marsh Warbler trapped and ringed at Reculver on the 8th was another good bird.
As numbers of Wigeon, Teal and Brent Geese built up around the county, there were already a couple of interesting sightings of scarcer winter wildfowl. A group of 8 Whooper Swans at Northward Hill on the 6th were early. Relative to recent years this was also a good count for this species. A single Pink-footed Goose at Dungeness on the 7th was also an indicator of winter approaching.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Pallid Harrier - Jamie Partridge
This week saw the second Big Kent Migration Day on the 28th. As birders flocked to the different coastal sites to join in the activities, several nice birds were found. The Sandwich/Worth area did particularly well, with a fly by Red-rumped Swallow during an early morning Viz-mig (visual migration) session, plus a second (or same) later in the day at Worth, the discovery of a Red-necked Phalarope on Lydden Flood which stayed the remainder of the week, and a White-tailed Eagle that flew over, and was seen at several other spots around the county. On migration day also 1000s of Swallows and Martins streamed over Dungeness, while at Samphire Hoe a nice male Ring Ouzel was on show.
Nothing says autumn as much as the sound of a calling Yellow-browed Warbler. On the 27th around 8 were reported across the county, with two staying multiple days in the Margate cementery where there were also a couple of Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers. The rarest bird of the week, however, was a juvenile Pallid Harrier which flew north over the Dungeness trapping area on the 1st, and then was seen at Langdon Cliffs/South Foreland later that day. A Red-breasted Flyctacher was seen briefly but well at Worth Marshes on the 29th, and then another at Dungeness NNR on the 1st and 2nd.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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This weekend sees the second Big Kent Migration Day organised by the KOS and partners.
Please submit your sightings and join in the actitvities at Sandwich Bay, Samphire Hoe and Dungeness on Sunday the 28th!
Kentish Plover - Mark Chidwick
The best find of the week was a 1st winter Kentish Plover at Seasalter on the afternoon of the 20th. Another good bird, and very difficult to see in Kent, was a Corncrake at Margate on the 22nd. It was only reported a couple of days later as a photo surfaced of a juvenile at a backdoor on Turner Street. Two Hooded Crows were seen at Greatstone. The warmer weather and lighter winds on the 20th created excellent conditions for migration. There were good numbers of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps at coastal locations, but the number of hirundines stood out, with over 20,000 recorded at Dungeness (1010 Sand Martins, 14,500 Swallows and 4750 House Martins). The first Ring Ouzels of the season appeared on the 25th at Langdon (6) and Samphire Hoe (4), while the first Yellow-browed Warbler was seen at Kingsgate on the 24th.