On Sunday July 19th my brother and I spent a day in Kent with a walk around Oare Marshes followed by quick stops to get target species at Sevenoaks and at a park near Welling.
There were lots of birders at Oare Marshes many attracted by the return of the Bonaparte's Gull. We had tried for this bird without luck in 2014, but this time found it easily enough on a sand spit with Black-headed Gulls on either side. The walk around the marsh yielded many waders - Lapwing, Pied Avocet, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Curlew, Whimbrel, Ringed Plover, Ruff, Dunlin and over 400 Black-tailed Godwits. The surprise for the day was a Garganey, clearly smaller than the rest of the ducks, seen as we neared the final hide on our loop.
The park in Sevenoaks yielded by two year birds. First Tufted Ducks and then after quite some effort Egyptian Geese. The final stop yielded a Ring-necked Parakeet some 30 seconds after we got out of the car.
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| Herring Gull |
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| Reed Warbler |
On Monday July 20th we went to Rainham Marshes with a couple of targets in mind, but the weather wasn't great. Reed Warblers seemed to be everywhere but we did not see or hear Bearded Tits as we walked around the reserve. However we did see both Common and Green Sandpipers in close proximity, and had a cooperative Common Kingfisher at the education hide.
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| Common Kingfisher |
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| Marsh frog |
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