Birding Year

The Birding Year

Winter – Auks, Red-throated Diver, Red-necked & Slavonian Grebes, Bittern, Great White and Little Egret, Bewick`s Swan, White-fronted and Brent Geese, Wigeon, Pintail, Scaup, Eider, Common Scoter, Smew, Goosander, Marsh & Hen Harrier, Merlin, Peregrine, Water Rail, Golden & Grey Plovers, Knot, Little Gull, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Barn Owl, plus common wildfowl, waders, winter thrushes, buntings and finches and gulls.

Spring – Up-channel passage of Red & Black-throated Divers, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet, Eider, scoters, Red-breasted Merganser, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Pomarine, Arctic and Great Skuas, Mediterranean and Little Gulls, Black, Little and Sandwich Terns. Hobby, Black Redstart, Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat, Ring Ouzel, Firecrest and warblers. Rarities such as Hoopoe, Bee-eater, Serin or Honey Buzzard.  

Summer – Breeding Grey Heron, Common Terns, Avocet, Ringed & Little Ringed Plover, Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Whitethroat, Cetti`s Warbler, Bearded Tit, Corn Bunting. Peak numbers of Yellow-legged & Mediterranean Gulls, Garganey, return wader passage. Autumn – Divers, Black-necked Grebe, Gannet, Brent Goose, Eider, Common Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Merlin, Peregrine, Little Stint, Curlew and Wood Sandpipers, Arctic & Great Skuas, Arctic, Little, Sandwich and Black Terns, Kittiwake, Little Gull, Skylark, pipits, wagtails, chats, Redstart, Ring Ouzel, thrushes, warblers, crests, Tree Sparrow, finches and buntings, rarities such as Wryneck and Red-backed Shrike most likely. The above species are only some of the highlights that may be encountered throughout the seasons in Romney Marsh, a region that boasts an annual bird list of around 230 species, many of which are rarities.