MONTAGU'S HARRIER AT RECULVER.

After the excitement of Saturday in the Cemetary it was still a very good day yesterday at Reculver.Arriving at Chamber's Wall yesterday in bright sunshine I was looking forward to a display from the long staying Monty's and I was not disappointed.Intially it was fairly distant from the Green Wall but I was fortunate that a Short- Eared Owl decided to play "statues" in a field .Moving on to Brook a few Tufted Duck and a close pair of Marsh Harriers kept Heathy and myself company.Final destination was the Oyster Farm where the bird performed well for about half an hour.A few distant record shots were too poor for the blog, so a big thanks to Heathy for a picture of the bird.

DUSKY THRUSH MARGATE CEMETARY

Well, if anybody told me I'd add to my U.K. list this weekend I'd have laughed at them.My plan was a nice little session at Grove with Martyn and Chidders and a day at the cricket in Canterbury.6.22 A.M. Heathy sent me a message "Dusky Thrush Margate Cemo".Now I've been a lucky man to see a Swainson's on Bryher,two Grey-Cheeked on St. Mary's and the grail of the Ovenbird.But this comes very close to the Ovenbird.I've been reliably informed this is the first twitchable bird since 1959 in Hartlepool!The morning was a bit manic with birders recreating the Benny Hill show by chasing in a big gang around the cemetary.For those of you at the Crested Lark twitch it was very similiar to that!However after an hour I went to St.Lawrence and saw Kent capitulate to Worcs.Returning at 5.30 P.M. it was a bit quieter with about 50 birders on site.Steve Tomlinson was roundly thanked for this incredible find and it was good to see Barry Matlock.We settled down to take a few pictures and the best two are above.Another good day today with the Montagu's Harrier at Reculver and there might even be a couple of picture tomorrow.

CATTLE EGRET AT GROVE

With showers forecast today and generally cloudy weather it still didn't stop me from a few hours birding at Grove.As you will see birding has been very limited recently with Saturdays taken up with work.With a Cattle Egret and a Spoonbill I thought a trip to the Great Rift Valley was in order.Walking onto the reserve it was good to see my first Swifts of the year.Told you I hadn't been out much.On reaching the Marsh Hide Martyn and Mark were already viewing a very distant Cattle Egret.I would have taken pictures as good as the above given that this bird was about half a mile closer!Not a great deal else was on offer.On leaving the hide 6 Hobbies were in the air with numerous hirundines.A stroll to Harrison's offered very little and the main lake was almost birdless.However, a return tomorrow is on the cards if the Spoonbill returns.