Birding in Kent, Ramsgate to New Downs, Sandwich Bay
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This video starts in Ramsgate Harbour and follows the coast to New Downs on Sandwich Bay. The harbour can be a good place to find sheltering birds after stormy weather and I have seen Great Northern, Red-throated and Black-throated Divers there. In the winter months there are usually a few Shag in the harbour, these are not a particulary common bird around the Kent coast. From the harbour it is worth walking along the Western Undercliff to see Fulmar and again, during the winter Black Redstart can often be found. Whether succesful or not I don't know but one spring I saw a Black Redstart gathering nesting material here.
There are usually quite a few shorebirds along this section. At Pegwell there is a 'country park' and this brings you near an area of salt marsh with brackish pools. A few Wigeon and Black-tailed Godwits have taken to wintering here and various things drop into the pools. In recent years there has been a Pectoral Sandpiper, and Red-necked Phalarope here (both featured on the video) also Kentish Plover and Stone Curlew (not filmed unfortunately).
Access to the river bank is limited although it can be seen from various locations. Perhaps the best way to see this area is by a boat trip from Sandwich offering the chance to see Common Seals resting on the muddy banks and some of the birds that feed along the River Stour.
New Downs is a large area of mixed farm land and flood defenses with shallow pools. Both the Stour Valley Walk and England Coast Path take you through this area. Although quite distant (scope advised) the shallow pools can contain many hundreds of waders often some of the scarcer ones like Curlew Sandpiper, Little and Temminck's Stint and Spotted Redshank.
There are usually quite a few shorebirds along this section. At Pegwell there is a 'country park' and this brings you near an area of salt marsh with brackish pools. A few Wigeon and Black-tailed Godwits have taken to wintering here and various things drop into the pools. In recent years there has been a Pectoral Sandpiper, and Red-necked Phalarope here (both featured on the video) also Kentish Plover and Stone Curlew (not filmed unfortunately).
Access to the river bank is limited although it can be seen from various locations. Perhaps the best way to see this area is by a boat trip from Sandwich offering the chance to see Common Seals resting on the muddy banks and some of the birds that feed along the River Stour.
New Downs is a large area of mixed farm land and flood defenses with shallow pools. Both the Stour Valley Walk and England Coast Path take you through this area. Although quite distant (scope advised) the shallow pools can contain many hundreds of waders often some of the scarcer ones like Curlew Sandpiper, Little and Temminck's Stint and Spotted Redshank.