June 30th (BITS AND PIECES)

Top male Cuckoo,ringed at Sandwich (April 29th),Pair of Great Crested Grebes,on the river at New Hythe (unusual during the summer).Cuckoo (Sunken marsh),Oystercatchers (river),pair of Blackbirds (garden),Cetti`s Warbler (New Hythe),Nightingale (New Hythe).Lapwing chicks (Burham marsh).

April 24th (Stodmarsh)

Cloudy to start,brighter later SW.

I went to Stodmarsh today with Bob Bland,Trevor Maynard and Big Jeff.We saw 61 species of bird,the best being- - BLACK KITE 1,Red Kite 2,Marsh Harrier 6,Common Buzzard 3,Hobby 1,Sparrowhawk 1,Kestral 1,Garganey 1 (from ramp),Cuckoo 1,Bittern 1 (booming),G W Egret 1 Nightingale 1 (car park) Garden Warbler 2 and Swift 6.

From bottom Garganey,Hobby,Red Kite,Black Kite,Marsh Harrier and top Black Kite.

April 9th-15th (Scotland) Loch Awe)

I spent last week with other members of Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory at Loch Awe,Scotland.The highlight of the week was the two visits we made to Mull.The weather was kind,better than down south and the sea  on both crossings to Mull was like a mill pond.

I believe we saw around a total of 109 species of birds.The best being Sea Eagle,Golden Eagle,Iceland Gull,Black Guillemot and Great Northern Diver.

March 26th (New Hythe)

Goosander and Siskin (Streamside lake) Scaup,B N Grebe,Wigeon 14 (Abbey Meads) Great Black-backed Gulls (river) and Little Gull (Tesco lake).On March 24th,I saw,5 Common Buzzards and 4 Med Gulls over Sandhole (Leybourne).