Cold, cloudy, NW 2 - A day in the field guiding for Clare and Peter from London commenced with 16 Cattle Egrets from the airport road, followed by a hail shower at the Scotney sandpit and a right good soaking! However, a murmuration of 500 Golden Plovers sweeping over our heads was ample compensation, although there was little else of note along the front gravel pits apart from a pair of Egyptian Geese with two goslings about a month old. A tour of Walland Marsh delivered several large flocks of winter thrushes, Lapwings, Golden Plovers, corvids and Stock Doves, plus at least 20 Buzzards. Moving onto the bird reserve where the highlights were a Common Scoter and a ringtail Hen Harrier on Dengemarsh; two Avocets, a Slavonian Grebe and two each of Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls on Burrowes; and a Black-necked Grebe on ARC. We finished the afternoon in some style at the Tavern viewpoint where nine species of waders were logged including c500 Oystercatchers and c300 Curlews, 50 Knots and 20 Grey Plovers, plus a Sandwich Tern, a Mediterranean and two Little Gulls. In summary, a decent days birding in fine company with 80 species logged.
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