Thank you so much to everyone that took part in the first ever Great Kent Coastal Birdwatch! It was a great week with plenty of sightings and we’ve been loving having a look at what everyone spotted throughout the week!
At Bird Wise East Kent, we had a really fun week taking families out to complete group surveys and helping to identify the different birds. It was brilliant to see how enthusiastic and full of wildlife knowledge the kids were, thanks to everyone that took part! We had a number of exciting sightings with our groups throughout the week, including over 150 golden plover, a pintail and huge numbers of brent geese. It was also rewarding to discuss how we can all use the coast and appreciate the amazing wildlife without negatively impacting upon it.
We faced some small setbacks as we were hit with not one but TWO large storms throughout the week, finally having to call off our Friday activities due to the force of Storm Eunice. We were very impressed at the resilience of our walkers on Tuesday and Thursday, who braved the wind (and rain on Tuesday!).
Thank you also to the other groups involved throughout the week. We had a brilliant time with Kent Wildlife Trust on Monday at Pegwell Bay, with a bird treasure hunt and fact finding mission, wildlife activities and a group birdwatch survey to finish the day. This ended up being the only good weather day!
It was amazing to watch the Thanet Coast Project crew in action at Minnis Bay and Margate, with some of their legendary Scavenger Hunts. There were some really incredible finds from the families involved, including an unsuspecting sea slug attached to a piece of driftwood, who has now been happily returned. We can’t wait for more of these fun events to unfold as the sun comes out.
Bird Wise North Kent and Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory also ran successful walks throughout the week, all fully booked with plenty of people engaging with our amazing coastal birdlife. We’re really excited to continue running this event next year with even more walks and ways for everyone to get involved!
We were really pleased to see so many beginner’s getting out birdwatching throughout the week and hope that they enjoyed the experience and will be doing it again.
Some of the results…
The top viewed birds….
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Dunlin
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Lapwing
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Black headed gull
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Herring gull
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Oystercatcher
Waders
- Dunlin
- Lapwing
- Oystercatcher
It was great to see so many of the daring dozen on people’s surveys, they’re currently preparing for their departures back to their breeding grounds, and will be leaving us in the coming weeks!
Ducks, herons & geese
- Brent goose
- Shelduck
- Teal
Other coastal birds
- Carrion crow
- Cormorant
- Pied wagtail
