Restharrow & Reculver

28th March  Restharrow Scrape at Sandwich 

Little Egret.

On the 28th March i took advantage of the glorious weather and headed to Restharrow scrape at Sandwich Bay, this is a great site for bird photography as you can get quite close to the birds without disturbing them .

Striking a pose.

One of the first birds i saw was the above superb looking Little Egret , these are such graceful looking birds and were once a rare sight in the UK ,with the decline of so many bird species in the UK it's  great that at least some birds have increased their range.

Little Grebe.

One bird that never fails to show well at Restharrow is Little Grebe and at this time of year they are in their splendid  summer plumage.

Diving for food.

There were a few wader species around the scrape including 3 Oystercatchers busy displaying & mating.

1 of 3 Oystercatchers.

There were plenty of Lapwings also mating plus a single Dunlin flew around the scrape before being chased off by a Lapwing.

7 Curlew dropped into the scrape for a wash & rest before flying back off into the adjacent fields. 

Curlew's having a wash.

Flying off towards the fields.

A Cormorant flew into the scrape and soon disappeared under the water in the hunt for food.

Incoming Cormorant.

Standing tall.

There were plenty of ducks around Restharrow including this quite superb looking drake Shoveler.

Drake Shoveler.

Reculver car park.

On my way home from Sandwich after a successful birding session i decided to have a quick look for the Black Redstart at Reculver car park which has eluded me on my two previous attempts , however this time it was 3rd time lucky as it posed on the rocks.

Black Redstart.

There was also a single Rock Pipit which was camera shy and 2 Pied Wagtails which did pose for the camera.

Pied Wagtail.