Please note that maintenance work will begin on Restharrow Scrape on Monday 18th August. Expect disturbance to the site every Monday and Thursday morning for a few weeks.
Sunday 31st
A PURPLE HERON was new on RSPB Worth marshes and it was pleasing to a migrant flock of 60 Yellow Wagtails near the Chequers. On the Estate there were four Whinchats and five Wheatears. The SPOTTED CRAKE remained on New Downs.
Saturday 30th
The SPOTTED CRAKE performed well on and off throughout the day on New Downs. Multiple Bearded Tits were on the same pool, a Great White Egret flew over, and a Spotted Redshank was on the river nearby. In the afternoon a White Stork drifted over the Green Wall, 23 Swifts and two Wood Sandpipers were on RSPB Worth marshes, and a wader roost south of Sandilands comprised 96 Ringed Plovers, 55 Sanderlings, and 22 Dunlins.
Friday 29th
Seawatching was productive between the bouts of rain. At least one, possibly two, Great Skuas, two Arctic Skuas, two Little Gulls, and a Black Tern were all seen offshore. A Little Ringed Plover was on Restharrow Scrape and three Wheatears at Dickson's Corner. New Downs in the afternoon scored five Curlew Sandpipers and a Spotted Redshank and then a brilliant SPOTTED CRAKE. The bird showed well feeding on the mud on the South Pool (approx. TR339553) in the company of a Water Rail. If visiting, there is room for a few member's cars at the Polytunnels (TR342587). Please display your membership card in the dashboard and then walk along the raised bund to the first pool on the right. Please note that the gates at the entrance road to New Downs often shut in the evening, so don't stay too late. There is more parking at Sandwich Quay instead and you can walk along the river to the Polytunnels.
Thursday 28th
The Estate was decent enough in an increasing breeze. Singles of Hobby and Redstart, three Tree Pipits, and eight Yellow Wagtails were the highlights. At high tide there were 140 Sandwich Terns, four Common Terns, smaller numbers of waders, and a juvenile Caspian Gull in Pegwell Bay. Across the river at least 600 Mediterranean Gulls were roosting on Prince's beach and Shellness Point.
Unfortunately this morning there was also an incident of photographers tape-luring birds on the Estate. When asked to stop playing the lure, the visiting photographers were rude to SBBOT staff. Needless-to-say tape-luring birds for photography purposes is not allowed on any of our reserves. It is bad practice and frankly a sign of poor fieldcraft and impatience. There are plenty of opportunities to get excellent photos in the Sandwich Bay area without tape-luring, as evidenced by the high calibre of photos exhibited on our website, social media, newsletters, etc over many years. Please let us know if you see this behaviour again. SBBOT will continue to monitor the situation and evaluate what sightings it releases if this behaviour continues.
Wednesday 27th
RSPB Worth marshes was busy with Peregrine, four Marsh Harriers, ten Cattle Egrets, Golden Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, two Ruffs, four Black-tailed Godwits, five Little Ringed Plovers, two Dunlins, Turtle Dove, ten Swifts, 40 Sand Martins, Willow Warbler, six Lesser Whitethroats, ten Whinchats, two Wheatears, and a Raven. Singles of Green Sandpiper and Greenshank were also on Restharrow Scrape.
Monday 25th
A quieter day but the collection of Wheatears, Whinchats, and Stonechats still performed well around the Sandilands area. In the afternoon a White Stork was on RSPB Worth marshes.
Sunday 24th
There were 15 Wheatears along the beach between Sandilands and The Chequers. A boat trip along the river also produced 48 Common Sandpipers and 154 Redshanks.
Saturday 23rd
Two Grasshopper Warblers were trapped and ringed on the Estate, a belated first for the autumn. New Downs supplied three Ruffs, seven Greenshanks, 93 Redshanks, and a Grey Plover at high tide, plus two Whinchats. Meanwhile on RSPB Worth marshes there were four Cattle Egrets, a Great White Egret, five Black-tailed Godwits, five Green Sandpipers, seven Wood Sandpipers, seven Ruffs, and two Greenshanks.
Friday 22nd
It was all about the waders today. Two Ringed Plovers, six Wood Sandpipers, one Green Sandpiper, three Common Sandpipers, two Redshanks, one Spotted Redshank, one Ruff, four Dunlins, and one Black-tailed Godwit were all on RSPB Worth marshes. Over on New Downs there were two Avocets, 86 Redshanks, 83 Lapwings, three Black-tailed Godwits, two Ruffs, a Whimbrel, six Green Sandpipers, 34 Common Sandpipers, and three Greenshanks, with two Knot also at Pegwell Bay. There were five Lesser Whitethroats, a Garden Warbler, four Wheatears, and two Whinchats on the Estate.
Thursday 21st
Just under 150 Sandwich Terns and our first Great Crested Grebe of the autumn went north offshore. A single Swift flew overhead, along with 47 Black-tailed Godwits and a Golden Plover, but only small numbers of warblers were in the bushes. Six Wheatears and three Whinchats remained around Sandilands and a Spotted Redshank was on RSPB Worth marshes.
Wednesday 20th
The flock of Little Stints on RSPB Worth marshes now numbered four. Meanwhile a spell seawatching produced 60 Sandwich Terns and four Common Scoters. The Coal Tit was still on the Estate.
Tomorrow will be 44 years since our last record of Greenish Warbler. A popular conversation with the regulars at Sandwich Bay is when we will get another one. There have been a few birds on the East coast of the UK this week and the run of easterly winds continues throughout the upcoming week. So it seems as good as time any to find this overdue species. I suggest listening for the call (they sound similar to Pied Wagtail).
Tuesday 19th
On the Estate, two Marsh Harriers patrolled around Restharrow Scrape, three Wheatears were bracing the wind and a family group of 13 Grey Partridge included 11 juveniles. The three Little Stints continued at RSPB Worth Marshes.
Monday 18th
Three Little Stints were on RSPB Worth Marshes, 20 Common Scoters offshore., and the Dickson's Corner area had four Whinchats and six Wheatears.
Sunday 17th
A Pied Flycatcher was in the Gullies and a Coal Tit in the Little Elms, the latter perhaps lingering in the area as there have been a number of recent sightings of a bird at the southern end of the Estate.
Saturday 16th
The strong breeze and cool conditions throughout the morning was quite the change from yesterday. Despite it's Easterly direction there were no hoped for Wryneck, Icterine Warbler, or similar. Still, two Arctic Skuas and 17 Common Scoters were offshore, the Sandilands area was still productive with five Wheatears, two Whinchats, and a Tree Pipit, and a Quail was heard at the northern end of New Downs.
Friday 15th
The flock of White Storks was still on RSPB Worth marshes early in the morning. Not long after a HOOPOE was found at the Chequers. It couldn't be located later but it was rather hot by then, so keep an eye out in the area as it could still be lurking. Two Pied Flycatchers and a Nightingale were also good records on the Estate.
Thursday 14th
A Coal Tit was on the Estate and an Osprey headed out to sea from Pegwell, where 335 Sandwich Terns were present. A very impressive flock of 60 Yellow Wagtails was near the Chequers. In the evening 37 White Storks flew around the area before settling on RSPB Worth marshes. Eight Wood Sandpipers, six Ruffs, three Garganeys, one Little Stint, and one Curlew Sandpiper were also present on the marsh.
Wednesday 13th
The Estate was not nearly as hot as forecast and in fact was overcast with spots of rain. It brought us a Spotted Flycatcher, 23 Willow Warblers, six Wheatears, and two Whinchats. Over in Pegwell Bay there 250 Sandwich Terns and 33 Common Terns at the high tide roost whilst inland there were two Great White Egrets, 17 Yellow Wagtails, and 250 Swallows on RSPB Worth marshes.
Tuesday 12th
The area around Dickson's Corner and Sandilands was still productive with three Wheatears, two Whinchats, and three Stonechats. Five Green Sandpipers, two Spotted Flycatchers, and a Coal Tit were on the Green Wall. In the afternoon heat a flock of 32 White Storks flew south over RSPB Worth marshes.
Monday 11th
Redstarts were in both the Oasis and at Sandilands, a Coal Tit was outside Middle Field, four Spotted Flycatchers were in the Gullies, and ten Greenshanks flew inland over Dickson's Corner, where two Whinchats and seven Wheatears were present.
Sunday 10th
The major talking point was the huge numbers of Mediterranean Gull in an around the Pegwell Bay/Shellness Point area. Approximately 2,200 were present, a new record for the area. A Brent Goose was also present in Pegwell. Eight Ruff and a Spotted Flycatcher were on RSPB Worth marshes, a Sandwich Tern and a Saker-type Falcon were on New Downs, and five Wheatears were on the Estate.
Saturday 9th
Both Green and Common Sandpiper were on Restharrow Scrape and a Great White Egret flew over the Estate. Seven Ruff were on RSPB Worth marshes.
Friday 8th
Double-figures of Willow Warblers and smaller numbers of Reed and Garden Warblers were on the Estate. Three Wheatears remained at Sandilands. In the afternoon there were thousands of Gulls anting over the area, including hundreds of Mediterranean Gull.
Thursday 7th
A PECTORAL SANDPIPER was on RSPB Worth marshes briefly late morning but was not seen again. It could still be out there somewhere though. Two Wood Sandpipers, four Ruffs, a Great White Egret, a Red Kite, three Turtle Doves, and two Garganeys were also seen.
Wednesday 6th
Wheatears on the Estate increased to eight with Spotted Flycatcher and Tree Pipit present. On New Downs there was a mix of passage waders with a Wood Sandpiper, three Little Ringed Plovers, ten Greenshanks, and 83 Redshanks. Five Whinchats, four Ruff, three Turtle Doves, and a Hobby were on RSPB Worth Marshes.
Tuesday 5th
One Arctic Tern remained in Pegwell this morning whilst on the Estate there was a Coal Tit, a Tree Pipit, and four Yellow Wagtails. Four Wheatears were on Prince's Beach and a Redstart at the Drove.
Monday 4th
An Egyptian Goose and our first Snipe of autumn were on Restharrow Scrape. Four Wheatears and four Golden Plovers were on the Estate beach. In Pegwell there was a Pochard, a very rare record for the site, along with more regular Little Stint and two Arctic Terns.
Sunday 3rd
A MARSH WARBLER was trapped and ringed on the Estate early on. Despite turning up semi-regularly in spring in recent years, this was the first to be ringed since 2002. Two Red Kites drifted over, a Common Sandpiper was on Restharrow Scrape, and there were lots of Sand Martins moving around. In the evening there were two Whinchats, three Wheatears, and two Whimbrels on Prince's Beach with 90 Mediterranean Gulls sat on the sea.
Saturday 2nd
A range of waders in Pegwell Bay included 255 Oystercatchers, two Ringed Plovers, seven Whimbrels, 154 Curlews, four Bar-tailed Godwits, two Common Sandpipers, 57 Redshanks, one Greenshank, seven Turnstones, one Knot, one Ruff, 46 Dunlins, and two Little Stints. Two Yellow-legged Gulls, 178 Mediterranean Gulls, and 53 Sandwich Terns were also present.
Friday 1st
After a few days without any records there were 13 Crossbills north overhead. There were a scattering of Willow Warblers on the Estate, a few Cuckoos around, a Whimbrel at Dickson's Corner, and a Cattle Egret flew along the beach. In the evening a boat trip along the River Stour targeting Common Sandpipers found a staggering 129 birds!