One of three Shorelarks at Reculver.
Today ( 2nd Jan. ) i started of at Reculver to try and see the Hooded Crow which would be a year tick for me , it was a bitterly cold morning and on my walk along the sea wall i picked out a distant Harrier which soon came closer enough to id as a Marsh Harrier which was quickly followed by Little Egret , Lapwing and Pheasant , there were plenty of Wigeon and Dark-Bellied Brent Geese on the sea , as i carried on moving towards cold harbour i had 3 larks flying off but could not put a positive id to but were most probably the Shorelarks , damn , in the same area i first heard then saw 2 Snow Buntings which i happily added to my year list , i eventually reached cold harbour and was soon enjoying distant views of the Hooded Crow .
On my return journey i reached the area where i had seen 3 larks flying off earlier and within seconds i was enjoying close views of 3 Shorelarks which were a very welcome addition to my ever growing year list , these are scarce birds in Kent and really smart birds to see let alone photograph .
Shorelarks.
I arrived back at the car and then headed of to Dungeness , i called into the visitor center and had really great views of a Bittern out in the open and then saw a Redhead Smew and 3 Goosanders i also added at least 2 female Goldeneyes and 1 Black-Necked Grebe .
I then headed of towards the sea to try and catch up with the reported recently seen Glaucous and Caspain Gulls , but despite an intensive scan through the gulls i had no luck with the Caspian gull but thankfully i managed to see the Glaucous Gull which was first spotted sitting on some type of metal structure then eventually seen resting on the ground .
Glaucous Gull on metal structure.
Resting on ground.
I also added several hundred Red-Throated divers of shore , quite a remarkable sight plus there were a few Great Crested Grebes on the sea and a couple of Guillemots and a fly by Razorbill.
My final destination was a trip to Pett level via a quick check of Scotney on the way through which resulted in 4 White-fronted geese and at Pett Level i enjoyed seeing a large mixed flock of Dark-bellied Brent geese which had approx 10 Pale-Bellied birds and a really smart looking Black Brant and another White-fronted goose , there were also 100 + Barnacle Geese and a scattering of Canada Geese , and then it was time to call it a day , on my way home i added Moorhen to my year list .
