Ray O’ Reilly, KOS Field Trip organiser writes:- 

Wednesday 17th December was our final KOS Field Trip of the year. We all arrived in the early morning on a bright sunny windless Dungeness beach.

Patches of golden sunlight decorated the sea as we watched a few seabirds drifting up and down the Channel. Always fascinating, we spotted Gannets, Guillemots, Red-throated Divers and some distant Common Scoter. Then ‘Hawkeye’ Lys Muirhead spotted a Peregrine on top of a nearby pylon that flew off towards us. From here we went to Cockles Bridge where we had wonderful views of a flock of sixteen Cattle Egrets.

Our next port of call was Walland Marsh where we were using telescopes to view two Whooper and ten Bewick's Swans - regular winter visitors to Romney Marshes, but dwindling in numbers.   A singing Corn Bunting sounding like jangling keys was photographed and then  - the serendipity that makes birding so fascinating happened again - we found a male Merlin. 

Merlin by Yuti Chernojovsky.

One of our group - Chris Gillard  - and I had just been talking about when we had last seen one  - and how many years ago(!) when one appeared  - what a bird!  There is something about spotting raptors that never fails to thrill - they are the essence of wildness and here was this small beautiful compact bird making our day so memorable.

After adding Yellowhammers, Tree Sparrow and Redwings to our tally,we drove to Jury's Gap where there was a flock of 52 Egyptian Geese an unusually high number for many of us.

 A brief look at Scotney Gravel Pits before lunch revealed at least four White-fronted Geese.

Lunch was enjoyed at the RSPB Reserve Visitors Centre and the wind was picking up. After dining we visited Dennis' Hide where with the help of Richard Watkins we identified - not easy - four Caspian Gulls including an adult with a Dutch ring and three 1st Winter birds. 

We arrived at the Hanson hide on the ARC side of the reserve as the light was dimming. Water Rails were screeching, Cattle and Great White Egrets were gliding into roost, a dazzling flyby Kingfisher and a Bittern provided the overture before the main ‘show’ commenced. 

At first there was only about half a dozen Starlings swirling, but the numbers rapidly grew as more and more birds joined the rapidly increasing cloud until there were thousands of Starlings swirling around in their murmuration.  The sound of them was as dramatic as the sight . 

They were balling up in tight massive black circles as dark as the night, before they all dropped into the reeds to roost in numbers and safety.

The day had yielded  80 species with  - for me - the star bird  - in close view in stunning light  - was that adult male Merlin.

Thanks again for all who have joined us this year, for Lyn Griffiths' invaluable help and all of the Kentish birders who have helped us throughout the year.

All next years dates are available on our website MEMBERS ONLY.