Kent Ornithological Society 
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- Peter Eerdmans
- Weekly highlights
Zitting Cisticola - Barry Wright
An excellent week of birding in Kent, with one mega and lots of scarcities. The KOS Day at Dungeness on the 17th attracted a good number of birders to the area, one of which found a Zitting Cisticola at Galloways! With one earlier in the year at Foreness and an obliging male in Suffolk in recent weeks, one might get a bit complacent, but this is only the 7th for Kent and the 12th for the UK. The Galloways bird was singing on and off for the remainder of the week. A juvenile White-winged Tern showing well on the lake at Leeds Castle the afternoon of the 18th was another good bird (with further sightings of what looked like a different bird, but did confusingly look like a Black Tern in the area, at Oare on the 19th and 20th). Another good find was a pale Icterine Warbler in the Moat at Dungeness also on the 18th in the afternoon.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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White Stork - Mark Chidwick
There was plenty of good early autumn migration in the past week. A very impressive find was a fly-over Greater Short-toed Lark over Foundation Farm near Marden on the 11th. It was heard and seen for about 15 seconds, at an inland location no-less. This is only the 12th record for Kent of the species and the first since 2011. Hopefully the wait for a twitcheable bird won't be another 14 years. Another good migrant was a Wryneck at Walmer Beach on the 13th. There were plenty of other migrant song birds around with decent numbers of Willow Warblers, Tree Pipits, Grasshopper Warblers, Redstarts, Pied Flycatchers and Whinchats.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Large shearwater sp - Martin Casemore
Sea-watching improved, but not all sightings could be confirmed. Most excitingly a large shearwater was seen past Dungeness on the 2nd. Despite being photographed, it was too far to identify to species level. A Gull-billed Tern was reported past Graveney Marshes on the 3rd, while the regulars at North Foreland saw a distant adult Long-tailed Skua fly by on the 4th. Also past North Foreland a Sooty Shearwater on the 5th. Further sea-watch highlights included a Black-throated Diver past Deal and 17 Black Tern past Oare.
Last week's Pectoral Sandpiper remained all week at Dungeness, but the White-rumped Sandpiper at Oare was only seen till the 1st.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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White-rumpled Sandpiper - Frank Cackett
Waders took the headlines in an excellent week of Summer birding in Kent. An adult White-rumped Sandpiper was discovered at Oare Marshes on the 28th and stayed for the remainder of the week. There have been close to 40 records of this species in Kent, but could it be the same individual that was at Dungeness last year? Another American wader did show up at Dungeness from the 29th, a Pectoral Sandpiper was in the SE corner of the ARC.
Another good bird was the Black-crowned Night-heron that was on show from Hooker's ramp at Dungeness RSPB the afternoon and evening of the 25th. Unfortunately it did not stick around.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Wood Sandpiper - Peter Eerdmans
The number of returning waders picked up this week. Three Little Stints were at Oare as well as Shellness early in the week, while singles were seen at Pegwell and at Dungeness later. Up to 7 Curlew Sandpipers were seen at Oare while one was at Cliffe,There were plenty of Wood Sandpipers around as well as a few Spotted Redshank.
Sea-watching also was a bit better this week with Pomarine Skua past Herne Bay and Foreness/North Foreland on the 19th, while a couple of Balearic Shearwaters flew past Dungeness.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Yellow-legged Gull – Martin Casemore
The most noteworthy sighting of the week was a very unseasonal Jack Snipe seen at Worth Marsh on the 12th. There are very few July records of this species in Kent, less than a handful. Difficult to judge if it never left this Spring or is a failed breeder that decided to return early.
The Bonaparte’s Gull remained at Oare Marshes, where there also was a Spoonbill later in the week. It is still quiet in terms of returning waders, with just a few Spotted Redshanks and Wood Sandpipers recorded in Kent this week.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Caspian Tern – Martin Casemore
One of the regular North Foreland watchers kept the incredible year so far for that broader area going with an adult Laughing Gull flying past on the 6th. If accepted, it will only be the 10th for Kent and the first since the 2016 Dungeness bird. Unfortunately, it was not seen by anyone else. The other rare gull in Kent (the Bonaparte’s) was more cooperative and was on show at Oare throughout the week.
The fourth Caspian Tern of the year (although likely involving the same individual on at least some occasions) was found on the evening of the 4th roosting on the beach of Greatstone-on-Sea.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Zitting Cisticola – Peter Eerdmans
Another mega was recorded in Kent this week!! A Zitting Cisticola was found at Foreness Point on the evening of the 2nd, only meters away from where the Black-headed Bunting was seen earlier in the Spring. It was mobile, but sang and showed regularly, including in display flight. It was seen until 21.10 and fortunately it was still there for the early risers the next morning as it continued to perform from 5am in the suitable habitat of scrubs and grass. However, at 6.10am it flew high inland. This is only the 6th record for Kent with less than 10 seen in the UK.
Other exciting news over the week was the return of the Bonaparte’s Gull at Oare Marshes on the 2nd for its 13th consecutive Summer!
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Ruddy Shelduck – Peter Eerdmans
A relatively quiet week, with the best bird being a Rosy Starling that was seen briefly in a private garden in Burmarsh on the 23rd. Another nice bird was a singing Serin on the morning of the 22nd at St Margaret’s at Cliffe. European Bee-eaters were seen or heard flying over Kingsdown on the 19th and on the 20th over Aycliffe.
Several White Storks toured the county, with the largest group a group of six over Betteshanger near Sandwich Bay. Wood Sandpipers have started to return with sightings at Oare, Worth, Dungeness and Bough Beech.
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- Peter Eerdmans
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Hobby - Terry Laws
As the weather warmed up, the birding got expectedly a bit quieter. An immature Golden Oriole was seen and heard at Reculver on the 17th. As so often with this attractive species it only stayed around briefly. It has been a good spring for Black Kites, with another flying into the county at Dover on the 17th, while about the 10th Bee-eater of the Spring flew over Kingsdown on the 19th.
Intriguingly, two Cranes were seen again, this time circling over Haysden CP on the 14th