Kent Birding Highlights for February 2026

                                                                1st

                                     ISLE OF SHEPPEY

                                               CAPEL  FLEET

                                               

4 Whooper Swans

An early morning drive around Capel Fleet on the Isle of Sheppey proved very rewarding with both Barn & Long eared Owl seen well.

A distant 'Ringtail' Hen Harrier was well picked out by AE in the early morning gloom roosting on a post viewed from the Raptor watch point.

We also heard 4 Whooper Swans fly in and land nearby with a further 3 birds seen flying away in the distance.

4 Whooper Swans .

There was plenty of birds in the area including approx 50 Corn Buntings in the regular bushes.

Corn Bunting.

A small flock of 17 White fronted Geese flew high overhead heading towards Elmley plus 30+ Marsh Harriers came out of roost.

SHELLNESS

Mediterranean Gull

Leaving Capel fleet & on route to Shellness we saw a smart Med Gull as well as several  Red Throated Divers at Leysdown.

A very slow drive down the famous or should that be infamous track to Shellness produced several Stonechats and very deep craters along the way !!!

Once parked up at the Swale NNR a quick look by the hamlet was rewarded with 2 Short eared Owls.

Short eared Owl.

A walk along the Swale NNR was fairly quite with no White fronted Geese seen , however things livened up when all the waders got up being harassed by one of the Short eared Owls .

Then i noticed a Merlin also in close proximity to the roosting waders sat on a post, there was also a large flock of Brent Geese in a distant field.

Digi scoped Merlin.

7th

WALLEND MARSH

8 of the 41 Bewick's Swans

A planned trip to Dungeness on the 7th was a great day out, firstly i called into Wallend Marsh to look for the Bewick's Swan flock plus hopefully the mixed flock of Grey geese that was with them.

Thankfully i located the flock relatively easy, my first scan also produced 3 Pink footed Geese & 4 Tundra Bean Geese plus a count of 41 Bewick's Swans !!!

In the above photo you can see the necked ringed bird known as 'Nadine' , 4th bird from the left.

I didn't stay to long as the wind was quite strong and felt very cold, so i headed of in search of the recently found American Wigeon at Scotney.

Bewick's Swan.

3 Pink footed Geese, 1 Mute Swan & 4 Tundra Bean Geese

All heads up !!!

To cut a long story short i dipped the American Wigeon at Scotney & the Arc , i did have a brief but good view of a Bittern in flight and also a Kingfisher flew past.

On to the sea for probably one of my briefest seawatches ever as it felt bitterly cold , i added a few birds to my year list though, Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet & Kittiwake.

Tree Sparrows

On the way home i was pleased to add some Tree Sparrows and a single Yellowhammer to my days sightings.

14th

SCOTNEY  REVISITED

American Wigeon with Eurasian Wigeon, Coots & Lapwing

News came out that the American Wigeon was showing well at Scotney on the 14th and more importantly it was on the Kent side of the Gravel pit .

I decided to head straight there , it wasn't on show on my arrival but i was reliably informed it was still present , this was my 3rd attempt at seeing this bird so i had everything crossed.

Then thankfully i picked it out amongst the Eurasian Wigeon & Coots feeding on the grass bank.

American Wigeon.

I didn't realise at the time that this was a new bird for my Kent list as the one i had seen before at Elmley Marshes in 1990 was no longer accepted (no idea why ??).

Hopefully this one passes the criteria for acceptance !!!

American Wigeon.

I also had a very quick look at the Little Owl on my home home.

Little Owl

20th

RECULVER

Snow Bunting

A short visit to Reculver on the 20th to look for the 3 Snow Buntings was very successful as they showed very well.

Here are a small selection of photos i took :

Snow Bunting.

 

 

                                         

                           

Kent Birding Highlights for January 2026

                                                                1st

                                    ANCIENT HIGHWAY

                                        SANDWICH BAY

                                                 

White-Fronted Geese

I started 2026 with a visit to Sandwich Bay and spent sometime scanning the fields for wild Geese and thankfully the wintering flock of  White-fronted Geese was still present along the Ancient Highway, there was an impressive count of at least 170 birds.

Barnacle Geese

There was also 33 Barnacle Geese present with the WFG which are stunning looking Geese, Greylag & Canada Geese were also present.

COLLARDS  LAKE

Tundra Bean Geese

I left Sandwich Bay and headed to Collards Lake in the hope of adding even more Geese to my New Years Day birding trip and i wasn't disappointed as i saw 15 Tundra Bean Geese in the field just before the Lake.

3rd

OARE MARSHES

Grey Partridge

My first visit to Oare Marshes in 2026 produced  3 Grey Partridge in the roughly the same area they were seen near the end of 2025.

Other highlights were a Peregrine over the East flood plus an early Med Gull going down The Swale followed by 3 Red Breasted Mergansers.

The 2 Cattle Egrets were still feeding near the cattle on the East Flood.

Cattle Egret.

6th

Seasalter Rspb

My first Dip of 2026 and probably not my last was at Seasalter Rspb where i spent 2 hours in the morning with no luck looking for the Siberian Thrush, I also went back later in the afternoon for another 2 hour session but with the same result.

My reward was good numbers of Fieldfare & Redwing plus a single Mistle Thrush.

However the star of the day was a superb ♂ Hen Harrier which gave close  but brief views.

♂ Hen Harrier  (Photo from Oare Marshes)

12th

SARRE PEN

7 of the 20 Tundra Bean Geese.

A brief look at Sarre Pen on route to Dungeness was successful with the 20 Tundra Bean Geese still present but quite flighty.

DUNGENESS  RSPB 

Great Northern Diver

A winters day birding at Dungeness may not produce the goods of yesteryear but it still has many good wintering birds to see.

The Great Northern Diver on Burrowes proved tricky to locate but eventually gave itself up,  there was also only a handful of Goldeneye  (2 ♂ & 3♀) present.

♀ Goldeneye

A walk around to Denge Marsh Hide was a good choice as a Caspian Gull was showing well in front of the hide , there was also a Yellow legged Gull present.

Caspian Gull  (left hand bird)

Other birds of note were Little, Cattle & Great white Egrets plus a superb Bittern which had a brief fly around near Hookers ramp.

Bittern

21st

NEW HYTHE

A very wet day at New Hythe was rewarded with distant views of the over wintering Greater Scaup.

Greater Scaup with Tufted Duck

24th  &  25th

FAVERSHAM  TREATMENT  WORKS

Pallas's Warbler

A visit to Faversham treatment Works in the hope of seeing a Pallas's Warbler on the 24th & 25th eventually proved successful on the 25th.

Central  crown stripe very obvious

This delightful bird evaded me on the 24th but eventually showed very well on the 25th , other birds present were Goldcrest, Firecrest,  20+ Chiffchaffs, 100 Pied Wagtails, 2 Grey Wagtails & a Med Gull.

Pallas's Warbler.

My Kent Birding Year.......2025

                                             

Dartford Warbler Oare Marshes  (Photo by MW)

As 2025 draws to a close i thought i would take a look back at some of my stat's for birding in Kent . 

I keep site / area lists for 7 areas in Kent although i visit many more during the course of a normal year. 

I have lost 4 species from all my Kent Lists this Year as they are now considered to be sub-species  :

Mealy Redpoll

Arctic Redpoll

Green winged Teal

Hooded Crow

Here is a run down of how my Kent Birding Year went at these seven different locations:

DUNGENESS   AREA

Zitting Cisticola

I added 3 new species to my Dungeness Bird List this year bringing my total to 255  and they were :

EASTERN BONELLI'S WARBLER on the 25th May.

This was also a new bird for my British list.

Eastern Bonelli's Warbler  (Photo from Shetland)

ZITTING CISTICOLA  at Galloways on 18th August. 

Zitting Cisticola

LONG TAILED SKUA  from seawatch hide on the 4th September.

Sorry no photo of this bird.

OARE   MARSHES

Oare Marshes is what i consider to be my patch and one of my favourite sites to bird in Kent, the Wader spectacle here can be truly amazing if the water levels are correct.

I only added 2 new birds to my Oare Marsh Bird List bringing my total to : 215

The New Birds were :

CASPIAN TERN on the 3rd July.

Caspian Tern with Black-headed Gulls

GREY PARTRIDGE on the 18th November.

1  of  3 Grey Partridge.

THANET  AREA

I managed to see 4 new birds for my Thanet Bird List bringing my total to : 215

The New Birds were :

BOOTED EAGLE nr Cliffsend on the 11th April.

(sorry no photo)

GREATER SCAUP on the  6th October.

♂ Greater Scaup at Pegwell Bay

PINK FOOTED GOOSE on the 6th October.

Pink Footed Goose at Pegwell Bay.

DUSKY WARBLER on the 10th November.

Dusky Warbler at  Westbrook  (Photo by AE)

SANDWICH  BAY  AREA

Sandwich Bay is an area i used to visit a lot when i was still at school and i still frequently visit the area , more so Worth Marshes these days though.

I added 3 New birds to my Sandwich Bay bird list this year bringing my total to : 211

My new birds were :

SERIN on the 18th February.

♂ Serin near Restharrow Scrape.

WESTERN BONELLI'S WARBLER  on the 8th May.

Western Bonelli's Warbler.

RED NECKED PHALAROPE at Worth Marshes on the 2nd October.

(Sorry no photo)

STOUR   VALLEY

Unfortunately i never added any new birds this year, my last new bird in the Valley was the Solitary Sandpiper in 2023.

My Stour Valley Bird List remains  at : 201

ISLE of  SHEPPEY

Unfortunately i never added any new birds this year, my last new bird on the Isle of Sheppey was a Black Stork in 2023.

My Isle of Sheppey Bird list remains at : 186

RECULVER    AREA

I added 3 new birds to my Reculver Bird List this Year bringing my total to : 170

The 3 new birds were :

PALLID HARRIER on the 7th October.

LITTLE GULL on the 23rd October.

LONG TAILED SKUA on the 23rd October.

Unfortunately i failed with the camera on all 3 occasions.

FINAL  KENT  YEAR  LIST  TOTALS

YEAR LIST : 219

KENT TICKS : 3

EASTERN BONELLI'S WARBLER

WESTERN BONELLI'S WARBLER

BOOTED EAGLE

Here are a selection of bird photos from  throughout the Year from various sites .

Bonaparte's Gull  Oare Marshes

Desert Wheatear  South Swale NNR

Great Grey Shrike Worth Marshes

Hawfinch Ditton (Photo by AE)

Icterine Warbler Dungeness Moat (Great find by RG)

Osprey Oare Marshes (Photo by AE)

Spotted Crake  Sandwich Bay

Wryneck  Bishopstone

♂ Greater Scaup with ♀ Tufted Duck  New Hythe  (Photo by AE)

Thankyou to MW & AE for the use of some of their photos.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year & Great Birding for 2026.