Rob Rackliffe

A spring like morning on the patch at Walmer Beach today! 2 White Wagtails flew in off the sea and a Grey Wagtail feeding on the seaweed, 2 Chiffchaffs singing, Fulmars nesting at the Undercliff, and both Comma and Brimstone Butterflies!

Sandwich Bay is one of the best places in Kent to see GREY PARTRIDGE. This pair were unphased by the passing traffic along the Ancient Highway. #sandwichbirdobs

Today’s ICELAND GULL at Worth Marshes, Kent found by Neil Davies. A 2nd Winter with some suggestion of Kumlieni. Almost certainly the bird recently found by @jarpartridge recently. A very nice bird!

A decent flock of 19 PURPLE SANDPIPERS still at Broadstairs Harbour this morning. Best viewed 2-3 hours before high tide, especially when the sea is rough.

A bold Ruddy Turnstone at Broadstairs Harbour today! A very nice wintering flock running around the promenade.

An impromptu trip to Scotney Gravel Pits and Dungeness this afternoon… nice views of the drake AMERICAN WIGEON and at Cockles Bridge the two Whooper Swans and a gang of 15 Cattle Egrets beside the road!

@Mark_Vidler84 Yes off Longrope (site shown on Birdquides app)

@RobRackliffe Wow 6 is good, is that the Birchett Wood section?

Thick fog at Walmer Beach today .. but not inland at Orlestone Forest Ashford where warm sunshine was enough to encourage this rare LARGE TORTOISESHELL butterfly out! A report of up to 6 individuals.

@churchartnature Hi Dan, close to the sluice.

@RobRackliffe Near wooden bridge Rob, or closer to sluice?

The PALLAS’S WARBLER showed very well yesterday lunchtime behind Faversham Waterworks alongside 2 Firecrests, 11 Chiffchaff and a Red Kite circling overhead! Nice to see a few familiar faces! 😉

One of three GOSHAWKS displaying and sparring with a Raven in West Kent yesterday. Later joined by three Common Buzzards and 2 Red Kites to make it a proper raptor fest!!

@appleton_andy @Sandwichbirdobs Thanks Andy! It was a pretty awesome trip, 16 of us in total and we managed to find nearly all the target species .. plus lots of great Spanish food and sunshine! Just starting to plan a 2027 SBBO trip!

@RobRackliffe @Sandwichbirdobs Sounds absolutely amazing Rob. Photography pretty gripping too!

A fantastic week in S Spain on our SBBO birding break! 165 species seen inc. Great and Little Bustards, 6 Black-bellied and an amazing 96 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse! 6 Spanish Imperial Eagles, 30 Rock Buntings, Cranes, Iberian Magpies and Slender-billed Gulls! ⁦@Sandwichbirdobs⁩

A smart drake FERRUGINOUS DUCK seen yesterday at Holkham Hall Norfolk. A nice weekend visiting my brother.. great walks and some good birds.. 6 Long-tailed Ducks, 3 Slavonian Grebes, 14 RB Mergansers, Scaup, Woodcock and 100’s of Pink-feet! With ⁦@a1virginia⁩

A very nice detour on our journey home today, to watch this wintering RED-FLANKED BLUETAIL at Crockham Hill, Kent. It can be elusive and didn’t show for most of the morning, but fortunately showed well soon after our arrival! With ⁦@a1virginia⁩ ⁦@GaryGstraw1⁩

This is the GOLDEN-HEADED LION TAMARIND ! What a fabulous animal… we found a small group of these squeaking (not roaring) away in a forest in NE Brazil today! Definitely one of the smartest animals of this tour ! 😊 with ⁦@a1virginia⁩

A few pics of some of the other amazing Hummingbirds seen today including Sapphire-spangled Emerald, Hook-billed Hermit, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird and Ruby Topaz! With ⁦@a1virginia⁩

Awesome views of the Stripe-breasted Starthroat hummingbird today! A very striking bird and a much wanted lifer! With ⁦@a1virginia⁩

A brilliant day in the field today as we managed to see well over 100 species! Some real stunning birds including the CRESCENT- CHESTED PUFFBIRD, stunning PIN-TAILED MANAKIN and two ‘heavyweights’ - the rare ROBUST WOODPECKER and the huge GIANT SNIPE 😳 with ⁦@a1virginia⁩

A Northern Maned Three-toed Sloth seen in NE Brazil this week. Along with White-tufted Marmosets, Crab Eating Fox, Broomstraw-spined Porcupine, Rock Cavi, Agoutis, Capybara and Brazilian White-eared Possums, we are finding some cool critters alongside all the birds!