05/01/2019 With the East Grinstead RSPB Group on Isle of Sheppey

Saturday 5 January 2019
East Grinstead RSPB Local Group
Shellness Nature Reserve, Harty Ferry and Capel Fleet 

12 of us made it to a very cold Isle of Sheppey and enjoyed a good birding event.  In all we managed 51 species for the day.  Pick of the sightings for me was the Hen Harrier. 

• I arrived an hour before the scheduled start specifically to look for this bird and I was rewarded immediately with a great view of a ringtail flying over the fields to the east of the dyke by the car park.  There was another couple of sightings, maybe of the same bird, at the end of the day at Capel Fleet.
• The Short-eared Owls showed well at the start of the day in the Shellness NR and another one showed up at Capel Fleet at the end of the day.
• I saw a few White-fronted Geese early on but they were not present when I went back at lunchtime.
• The usual shore birds were seen up close on the high tide.  Pick of these were Grey Plover, Knot, Turnstone, Sanderling, Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Brent Goose, Great Crested Grebe, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Redshank and Shelduck.
• Other birds for my year list were Chaffinch, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Golden Plover, Meadow Pipit, Red-legged Partridge, Reed Bunting, Skylark and Wigeon.

A really good day out in good company and my best haul of birds so far in 2019!