Another after work twitch, this time to Dungeness RSPB. The Caspian Tern gave good telescope views on one of its favoured islands on Burrowes Pit, viewed from the Dennis’s Hide & Picnic Tables. 👍 Also Ringed & LR Plovers, Common Terns & Sand Martins.

After a Kane brace, it was time for a celebratory #Patchbirding walk this evening. The 1st of July too & straight into a patch year ✅. Autumn is coming… a Yellow Wagtail in the maize fields on rural Godinton Park 👍👍⚽️⚽️. Also a Kingfisher at the Hothfield Waterfall Lake, the first for several months.

Jun-26 #patchbirding has been challenging not least because of last week’s heat (no walks). But a bit of #Patchgold on Sunday morning (28th) when a HONEY BUZZARD glided in & circled over our Ashford garden at 09:35. A garden & patch tick ✅. Thanks to the local Herring & LBB Gulls for alerting me!!!

Wilting in this heat… but the singing Quail at Bockhill Farm, St. Margaret’s at Cliffe this morning at 8am was some reward during an early morning walk on the Kent coast. Sweating buckets again this evening. Hopefully tomorrow will be more bearable.

We are just one week away from our annual #moth event. Have you signed up to join us? Last year over 200 species were seen during the event! We hope to see you there.

An evening walk in the shade around Orlestone Forest… a very vocal family of Nightingales including some showy fledged juveniles and a calling Bullfinch.

Following on from a Facebook post I saw on Kent Birding, paid a quick visit to the Chilham Mill main lake where not only is there a pair of BLACK SWANS again, but they have 6 CYGNETS !!! Also House Martins, 1 Kingfisher & several Tufted Ducks including 1 female with 3 ducklings.

An early start this morning to beat the heat… a 4.8 mile walk around the Stodmarsh & Grove Ferry NNR. Highlights: purring Turtle Dove, 5 Cattle Egrets, 3 Little Egrets & 3 Grey Herons, juvenile Bearded Tits & Marsh Harriers, up to 3 Cuckoos, the usual common Warbler species singing & waterbirds…

A day out west today, with brief stops at Bedgebury, Bewl Water Reservoir , Broadwater Warren RSPB & Bough Beech Reservoir. c20 Med Gulls over Bewl, Woodlark & Willow Warblers at the RSPB reserve & Common Terns, Mandarin & fledged Kestrels at BB.

A change of scenery this evening & a rare visit to the old Naccolt patch. Delighted to see singing Corn Bunting, Yellow Wagtail, Sedge & Cetti’s Warbler… all scarce on my side of Ashford. 2 Reed Warblers, plenty of Whitethroats, Reed Buntings, Yellowhammers, Stonechat & Skylarks, Swifts & Swallows.

Dungeness: The gorgeous Squacco Heron at the Long Pits found by Dave Carrington and refound by Jacob. I've still got another 800+ images to look at.

#Patchbirding: a 6am start this morning on the patch. Was surprised to see a Sand Martin that flew east over the Hothfield Waterfall Lake, plus a vocal Raven. There is now a pair of GC Grebes at the Flood Storage Reservoir, Male Stonechat and the usual suspects including Grey Wagtail…

A quick #patchbirding walk… The pair of GC Grebes are back on Singleton Lake again, 4 adult Canada Geese with 2 goslings and 1 Swift overhead. GS Woodpecker calling nearby and a hovering Common Buzzard over the fields on rural Godinton Park.

We are really excited to be hosting the Honey-buzzard live stream on our new website. As seen on Springwatch 2026. tinyurl.com/42ubayu8 The Society part-funded this work, which should contribute much to our understanding of the species’ breeding ecology in Sussex. Thanks to all partners.

Exciting stuff !! We are delighted to be a part of this project with partners; Friends of Ashdown Forest, @wildlifewindows.bsky.social‬ and The Ashdown Forest Foundation. The nest camera will be live streamed on WW, YouTube channel + partners websites, including ours, from Friday 12th June 0400.

Volunteer at with us this autumn! There are spaces available for September and October. #kentbirding

A superb singing male Spotted Flycatcher at the Hothfield Waterfall Lake this evening whilst #patchbirding. #PWC2026 Year tick ✅ #91. The juveniles here last year might very well have been locally bred after all. Also the GC Grebe & Reed Warbler are still at the reservoir. Swifts feeding overhead.

An excellent day of seawatching provided two Arctic Skua, two Puffin, 39 Fulmar, eight Balearic Shearwater, 324 Manx Shearwater and 163 Swift all passing from the Fishing Boats. Video of Manx Shearwaters passing the Fishing Boats taken by Dave Scott. #kentbirding

#Patchbirding: belatedly my first Jun-26 walk on the patch this evening & a surprise with a singing Reed Warbler at the Hothfield Flood Storage Reservoir. Good evening for raptors too with 1 Red Kite, 1 Hobby, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Kestrels & 4 C Buzzards so far. House Martins around & a few Swallows.

Have you seen that we are running our annual moth event again this July?! Last year's event, over two hundred species of moth were seen! Why not come along? We already have people booked on for both the evening and morning sessions of this year's event!

There were plenty of Red Kites at Bockhill and St. Margaret’s at Cliffe this morning with 100+ on the move. Also Kestrel, Hobby, Peregrine and 1 Marsh Harrier (a female type that appeared to head out across the Channel). A few Swifts, Swallows & House Martins were also around.

RSPB Dungeness today: Bittern in flight, Red Kite, 2 Cattle & 2 Little Egrets, Ringed & Little Ringed Plovers, usual Warblers singing & plenty of Common Terns. Across the Romney Marshes, 2 Turtle Doves, 3 Cuckoos, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Corn Buntings & great views of a singing Lesser Whitethroat.

In the Kent North Downs woodlands this evening around Challock & Charing. 5 Garden Warbler territories, 3 Yellowhammers & 1 singing Firecrest.

#Patchbirding: Too much human disturbance around the Hothfield water bodies & patch tonight to see any decent bird activity. But a Roe Deer was a total surprise, following on from a rare Brown Hare sighting on Sunday. The 8 crop fields all appear to have been planted with Maize. 7 Swifts. #PWC2026

A pleasant stroll around Hothfield Heathlands KWT as it cooled down this evening. 1 singing Nightingale still, a smart Hobby that fed on insects over the dry water meadows, 4 Yellowhammers, 1 Linnet, 3 Goldfinches, Green & GS Woodpeckers…

Back home after 8 days in Norfolk… straight on to a patch year ✅ with a Red Kite drifting SW over the Godinton garden. #patchbirding #PWC2026

We have now published the April #PWC2026 review on our blog! Click this link to head over and see where you ended up in the league tables, as well as all the interesting patch birds over the month: patchworkchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/05/apri... Thanks to everyone who has taken part so far!

#Patchbirding #PWC2026 after work walk today. Some great breeding records. 5+ Mandarin Ducklings with their parents on the Hothfield Waterfall Lake. Pair of Grey Wagtails. Also 3 House Martins flew N. Kestrel & C Buzzards overhead plus Blackcaps, Garden Warbler & Whitethroat.

#PWC2026 #Patchbirding: More success over the rural Godinton Park fields this evening with a Hobby carrying prey (plenty of recently fledged juvenile Starlings in the area)… year ✅. Lots of Stock Doves & 4 Swifts & 20 House Martins overhead. 2 GC Grebes now on Singleton Lake.

Unbelievable evening on the patch, finding a TURTLE DOVE !!! #patchbirding #PWC2026. The bird was feeding with Stock Doves & Woodpigeons in the newly sown fields on rural Godinton Park, near the railway line. The first one here for many a year !!! Landscape changes = new species.

An early morning start to get down to the Ouse river valley at Southease, Sussex. Sadly the only waders spotted between there and Piddinghoe were 12 Common Sandpipers and 7 Whimbrels. 2 Ravens, Red Kite, C Buzzard and a good selection common warblers singing were all part of a pleasant walk.

This morning a typical Pomarine Skua sea watch, long period of very little to see then a flock appears, but they are well worth waiting for as they cruise by with languid wingbeats that ooze power. 3 Temminck's Stints at Boulderwall & the 1st Garganey on the reserve with Yellow-Billed Pintail?

Another #patchbirding walk this evening, & another #PWC2026 ✅. A female Northern WHEATEAR feeding in the newly seeded arable fields on rural Godinton Park. Well that was a bit different for the new habitat. 1 Green Sandpiper flew out of the cleared ditches, 2 Egyptian Geese & 1 male Yellowhammer.

This afternoons after work #patchbirding walk started quietly but came alive at @SingletonLake when 3 Common Sandpipers flew in and landed on the logs and branches by one of the islands (sadly they did not have spots 🤣😢), a year ✅. 2 Whitethroats singing on rural Godinton.

A murky #patchbirding walk early this morning. Now 3 Garden Warbler and 10 Whitethroat territories across rural Godinton & Worten. A few Swallows moved west (10 in total) and there were 2 fledged juvenile Grey Wagtails and 1 fledged Blackbird. 3 Mandarins, 2 Stonechats & the other usual suspects.

A lovely stroll around the full circuit at Stodmarsh & Grove Ferry NNR this morning. Great views of 2 Wood Sandpipers (Marsh Hide), 3 Cuckoos, Bittern, the usual singing warblers, Nightingale, Bearded Tits, but just could not get on the RFF in amongst the Hobby gathering.

Some more excellent seawatching with the highlight being a superb adult Long-tailed Skua east. Other notables being 253 Brent Geese, 13 Velvet Scoter, 38 Little Tern, 10 Black Tern, 43 Little Gull, 25 Arctic Skua, 26 Pom Skua, a Puffin, 9 Black-throated Diver and a Great Northern Diver. #kentbirding

Dungeness, Kent: a gathering of the birding family to say a final farewell to Tony Greenland at Littlestone Golf Club. Whilst we were here a close in Long-tailed Skua passed the point - you couldn’t have made it up! The rare ground beetle Hister quadrimaculata was my day’s highlight.

Tony really had the last laugh, we thought we’d miss some Poms, but was not expecting to miss a Long Tailed.

#Patchbirding walk across rural Godinton Park this evening & strange to be watching Gulls following the plough here at this time of the year. Normally I’m counting sheep, but now being followed around by cattle herds. The odd Black-headed & Common Gull amongst the many Herrings & LBBs, Pied Wags too

A look at the other Flood Storage Reservoir in Ashford this evening… at Aldington/Evegate. The GC Grebes have 4 Grebelings, 2 Grey Wagtails, 1 Pied, Reed Buntings, usual Geese, Grey Heron, Little Egret and 6 Swallows & 1 House Martin. 2 singing Lesser Whitethroats remained unseen.

A pleasant #patchbirding walk this evening with much lighter winds but no change in species seen. Up to 4 Mandarins, pair of Tufted Duck & Teal, 2 Whitethroats, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Stonechats, Reed Buntings, Linnet, Yellowhammers & Skylarks. 10 House Martins over the Godinton Park Estate colony

Fantastic weekend at @dungenessbirdobs.bsky.social where the record-breaking Little Gull movement was clearly the highlight of some quality seawatching! #kentbirding @kentishplover.bsky.social

Today: A singing Garden Warbler showed well in Orlestone. Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, Reed, Cetti’s & Sedge Warblers across the flatlands of Romney Marshes. 14 Whimbrel on the sward at Scotney GPs. 2 Greenshanks & 2 Common Terns RSPB VC. 2 Hobbies at the Boulderwall Fields.

This mornings seawatch had a reduction in numbers from yesterday but still provided plenty of interest with 179 Whimbrel, 2 Black Tern, over 1000 Common/Commic Tern, 15 Little Gull, 14 Arctic Skua, 4 Pomarine Skua, 6 Great Skua and a Great Northern Diver. #kentbirding

A superb day's seawatching, best a record breaking count of Little Gulls with 1467 east. There was also 2 Velvet Scoter, 244 Whimbrel, 666 Bar-tailed Godwit, 77 Black Tern, 3165 'commic' Tern, 2920 Common Tern, 31 Arctic Skua, 22 Pomarine Skua, 10 Great Skua and 5 Black-throated Diver. #kentbirding

A visit to the Dungeness RSPB reserve today: nice to find a moulting adult Curlew Sandpiper on Burrowes Pit (Makepeace/Shirley Coward Hide), 24 Dunlins, 10 Greenshanks, Common Sandpiper, 4 LRPs & 2 Ringed Plovers, 2 Common Terns… before moving to ARC Hanson hide where 2 Spotted Redshanks showed.

The #PWC2026 #patchbirding year list moved on to 84 species this evening with 4 Common Swifts feeding over the Great Chart playing fields. There were at least 8 House Martins back over the Godinton Park Estate colony too, with some visiting their usual nesting areas. Lesser & Common Whitethroats too

Another cool #patchbirding walk this evening in the NE winds. 4 Mandarins, 6 Teals, 5 Swallows, 2 Whitethroats & 1 singing Garden Warbler, male Stonechat, 1 Common Snipe, Skylarks, Reed Buntings & Yellowhammers, 2 Kestrels & 1 Common Buzzard.

An evening stroll in the woods on the North Kent Downs but the strong cool NE wind made it a challenge. 2 Firecrests singing, pair of Bullfinch, only a few Chiffs & Blackcaps singing and a brief snatch of Nightingale song. Song & Mistle Thrushes, Goldcrests & Coal Tits also noted.