When I arrived on an overcast early morning at Reculver the tide was mostly in and there was a light westerly wind. I had a look out to sea but it appeared to be very quiet apart from a few Brent Geese and Herring and Black-headed Gulls. House Sparrows were chattering away as I came past the towers but fell silent as a Kestrel hove into view and began to hover. A male Marsh Harrier was hunting over the fields and as I passed the pumping station it was nice to catch up with the Kingfisher (81) in his usual spot.
As I headed along the sea wall I came across 45 roosting Ringed Plover, with 21 Dunlin (82) and 4 Turnstone. A Redshank was preening on the oyster farm near to a couple of Snipe (83). A couple of Shelduck flew over the oyster farm and a singing Corn Bunting attracted the ire of a Reed Bunting who flew at it repeatedly until it moved. A single Grey Plover was on shore and its plumage showed up beautifully in the dull light.
 |
| Grey Plover |
Brent geese were flying past in various sized flocks on their way to a field further along. A single Great Crested Grebe was out to sea and a passing Great Black-backed Gull ousted a Cormorant off one of the marker poles so that it could take its place. The sun broke though briefly throwing the towers into sharp relief.
 |
| Reculver |
As I neared Coldharbour I could see another 9 Shelduck offshore and 15 Mallard. Out to sea 2 adult Gannet (84) were fishing and an unlucky Cormorant had its fish, it had just caught, immediately stolen, as it surfaced, by a nearby Great Black-backed Gull that swooped in and took it straight out of the Cormorants bill. It appeared to take the Cormorant completely by surprise. A female House Sparrow had more luck with a large feather that she had found and despite several attempts to relieve her of it she managed to fly off with it still safely in her bill.
On Coldharbour an immature Mute Swan was having a very rough time from the male of a pair of adults, also on Coldharbour. The male would gradually work his way towards the youngster, his posture becoming more threatening the closer he got, before suddenly exploding into action and giving chase.
 |
| Mute Swans |
 |
| Mute Swans |
 |
| Mute Swans |
The youngster flew over to the other half of Coldharbour and for a short while peace reigned as both the adults and the youngster started to preen. It was a joy to watch as the youngster had a very vigorous wash and brush up.
 |
| immature Mute Swan |
 |
| immature Mute Swan |
 |
| immature Mute Swan |
After this followed a lot of preening and then the youngster reared up and with several large wing flaps to ensure its feathers were all where they should be, it gave itself a shake before settling down again. It was a beautiful sight to behold and lovely to be able to freeze the action with the camera and see the sheer beauty of its wings.
 |
| immature Mute Swan |
 |
| immature Mute Swan |
 |
| immature Mute Swan |
 |
| immature Mute Swan |
At this point the peace was shattered by an RAF helicopter, I think a Boeing Chinook, flying very low just to the side of the sea wall. It sent the youngster up in a panic and it settled out to sea and c475 Brent Geese flew up from the field, equally panicked, and after wheeling around they landed en-mass on the sea. It took them nearly 20 minutes before they felt relaxed enough to move back to the field.
 |
| Boeing Chinook |
 |
| Boeing Chinook |
5 Redshank who had been roosting on Coldharbour returned and settled back on the bank although remained alert.
 |
| Redshank |
On my way back to Reculver while sitting on the sea wall I heard a Lapland Bunting (85) calling and one flew high above me before circling and returning to the field opposite. At the same time 3 birds flew across and landed in the scrubby area on the shore side of the wall. I was extremely chuffed to find 3 beautiful Lapland Buntings when I got my binoculars on them. Now that definitely made my day. I tried for some photos, even though they were a fair distance away, and then was lucky as they came a bit closer before unfortunately being flushed by a dog walker. What lovely birds.
 |
| Lapland Bunting |
 |
| Lapland Buntings |
 |
| a well camouflaged Lapland Bunting |
 |
| Lapland Bunting |
 |
| Lapland Bunting |
Well chuffed I headed back for Reculver. The Brent Geese had remained very nervous and took off in a flurry of wings several times, wheeling round and round before returning once again to the field.
 |
| Brent Geese |
12 Wigeon flew west out to sea as I neared the green bank and while sitting looking out to sea I could see a diver distantly off shore and was thrilled when I realised I was looking at a Black-throated Diver (86). There has been a Black-throated Diver seen fairly regularly since New Year's Day but this was the first time I had managed to catch up with it. It was drifting east and at one point enabled comparison with a Red-throated Diver that settled on the sea relatively near to it. This really was turning into a very good visit.
I walked for a short distance along the green bank and could see a smart Yellowhammer that was showing the colour of its rump well and ended up seeing 9 Yellowhammer altogether. A little further on a Chaffinch was also showing the colour of its rump as it sat in a tree. I counted 38 Reed Bunting and the Corn Bunting numbers on the oyster farm brought me to over 100 for the visit, having had 65 earlier. I could see 3 Tree Sparrows with one perching helpfully, if a little distantly, for a photo.
 |
| Yellowhammer |
 |
| Chaffinch |
 |
| Tree Sparrow |
I made my way back to the sea wall and had a Dunnock flick up onto the sea wall, allowing a beautifully close view, before moving to vegetation on the shore.
 |
| Dunnock |
I finished a cracking visit with 2 Short-eared Owls (87) over the oyster farm. Watching owls is definitely my favourite way to finish a visit. I had to take the photos on a very high ISO as the light was fading fast but I was very pleased to be able to take any photos at all.
 |
| Short-eared Owls |
 |
| Short-eared Owl |
 |
| Short-eared Owl |
 |
| Short-eared Owl |
Birds seen this visit included: 1 Kestrel, House Sparrows, Starlings, Wood Pigeons, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, c475 Brent Geese, 14 Meadow Pipit, 5 Pied Wagtail, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Kingfisher, 5 Magpie, 7 Mute Swan, Cormorant, 7 Redshank, 25 Ringed Plover, 21 Dunlin, 6 Turnstone, 2 Grey Plover, 52 Reed Bunting, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 4 Corn Bunting, 5 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Song Thrush, 11 Shelduck, 2 Snipe, 3 Wren, 2 Robin, 1 Stonechat, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 15 Oystercatcher, 102 Corn Bunting, 15 Mallard, 3 Gannet, 1 Little Egret, 4 Lapland Bunting, 8 Chaffinch, 12 Wigeon, 1 Black-throated Diver, 9 Yellowhammer, 2 Tree Sparrow, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Purple Sandpiper, 2 Dunnock, 2 Short-eared Owl,
