One of the 3 Shorelarks at Reculver
We arrived at Reculver Towers at 14.00 and from there we walked along the coastal path towards Minnis Bay. It was overcast with a strong cold SW wind. We were trying to find the wintering Shorelarks and Snow Buntings. But after walking over a mile, all we saw were over 200 dark-bellied Brent Geeses in the nearby fields. We started returning back to the car when we met an old man on the beach cutting up sponge with a knife, for some unknown reason. He looked up and saw that I was a birder and shouted 'There's some Snow Buntings up on that lump' pointing in the direction of a mound of shingle. We had already unsuccessfully covered this area, so this time I got Gayna to walk along the bottom of the mound and I walked above. With in a few minutes, I found 6 Snow Buntings below my feet. How did we miss them!? They showed very well, but flew off behind us. We carried on along the shingle and I found 3 Shorelarks! Like the buntings they showed at very close range. We observed them for ten minutes and then we started walking back to the car.
3 Shorelarks feeding on the shingle at Reculver
6 Snow Buntings showing very well and Gayna struggling to get over the wall at Reculver
A few of the 200 dark-bellied Brent Geeses at Reculver
The Shorelarks and Snow Buntings were feeding on the shingle to the right of he footpath about a fifthteen minute walk from the Reculver Towers.
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