BIRD THE WORLD THANET,

Pegwell Bay

Wish you were here?

If you fancy combining a day at the coast

with some great migration-watching, then MINNIS BAY consider the ISLE OF Words: Ed Hutchings THANET

popular resort for more than substantial numbers of two centuries, Margate’s Sanderling and a regular late-20th Century slump was group of Purple Sandpiper, long and bleak, as British which tend to roost in the sandy holidaymakersA ditched Victorian frump bays at White Ness. Small numbers of for the carefree coasts of Spain. But this Rock Pipit and occasional Black Redstart grand old seaside town, with fine sand are also present. seawall occasionally beaches and artistic associations, has During passage, substantial numbers of has Snow Buntings, in bounced off the bottom. pipits, wagtails, chats, thrushes, warblers winter. However, the real Though heavily developed, the position and finches pass through. Falls of the attraction here is seawatching. Stormy of the Isle of Thanet in the extreme commoner night migrants are usually weather in the right season can produce north-east corner of Kent, at the south end associated with east winds, with scarcer anything from Leach’s Petrel to Sabine’s of the , makes it an obvious species such as Richard’s Pipit, Icterine, Gull, as well as all the skuas, auks, divers point for observing migration. It is a noted Yellow-browed and Pallas’s Warblers, and and shearwaters. This is also a great place seawatching location and coastal scrub Red-breasted Flycatcher all regular in for visible migration. harbours a variety of passerine migrants. autumn. It is then that seawatching is Just north of St Nicholas At Wade Chalk cliffs form the coastline from most productive during north winds, with (where there is an interesting church), the Ramsgate in the south to Margate. Gannet, Manx Shearwater, Arctic, Great bushes at Chambers Wall and Shuart Lane The rocky foreshore is interspersed with and Pomarine Skuas, Kittiwake, terns and provide useful shelter for migrants, sandy bays. Grass covers most of the auks (including Little Auk in late October including rarities such as Booted, clifftop between Foreness Point and North to November). Sparrowhawk, Merlin, Hen Yellow-browed, Greenish, Arctic and Foreland, but more substantial cover Harrier and Short-eared Owl all regularly Pallas’s Warblers, Woodchat Shrike and occurs on the edge of North Foreland golf arrive from the sea, with Osprey, Honey Desert Wheatear. In 2001, a Dusky course and, a mile inland from Foreness Buzzard, Buzzard and Rough-legged Warbler was recorded here. Chambers Point, at the north end of Northdown Buzzards, and Red Kite occasionally Wall is excellent during migration

PICTURES: KEITH ROSS Park. In winter, one might expect to find noted. Breeding birds include colonies of periods. Shuart Lane is a regular ringing Red-throated Diver, Great Crested Grebe, Fulmar on the clifftops. site and, therefore, a well watched area Eider and large auks (mostly Guillemot) East of Margate, the mudflats extending that turns up lots on passage. offshore. The rocky shoreline holds a from Minnis Bay to Reculver are always To the north, Reculver Towers witnesses variety of wintering waders, most notably reliable for a variety of waders and the decent numbers of skuas, Leach’s Petrel

86 February 2019 BIRD THE WORLD THANET, KENT

Foreness beach HOW TO GET THERE

North Foreland can be reached by following the B2052 north from . There is a car park, from where one can seawatch, overlooking Joss Bay, just north of the lighthouse. The clifftop between Foreness Point and Botany Bay may be accessed by following the B2052 west past the Captain Digby pub for half a mile. Turn right into St George’s Road and take the second right, Kingsgate Avenue. Follow this to its end and park. Walk north-west along the coast to Foreness Point. It is possible to drive to Foreness Point by proceeding north along Queen Elizabeth Avenue, turning sharp right and then left into Princess Margaret Avenue until one reaches the pitch and putt golf course. Park in the spaces provided and walk to the Coastguard Station, which offers some shelter for seawatching. Northdown Park is bordered by the B2052 to the south and the B2051 (Queen Elizabeth Avenue) to the west, to park.

(regular), Sooty Shearwater and Sabine’s here occasionally, while Peregrine and Kingfisher Gull. It is also a popular spot for Raven have both made a comeback in the seawatching, especially when northern or area. On the east coast of Kent, south of north-easterlies prevail. While much Ramsgate, Pegwell Bay is noted for busier than Margate Cemetery, Northdown migrants, including a sprinkling of scarce Park has witnessed some notable rarities, species and rarities. The peak seasons are including regular Pallas’s and Yellow- March to June and August to November. browed Warblers, as well as Firecrest. The bay attracts waders and wildfowl, Early mornings in passage times can especially in winter. Extensive areas of produce good numbers of migrants. The mudflats, sandflats and dunes cemetery itself has turned up plenty of surrounding the mouth of the Stour scarcities, the odd rarity and several estuary are protected and maintained by ‘megas’, including a Dusky Thrush in the National Trust and Kent Wildlife 2013 that attracted 2,000 ‘twitchers’. Trust. The coast is dominated by a series Seawatching at North Foreland can of sand dunes, many of which have been Robin, thrushes, Starling and finches produce skuas, auks and divers in winter, converted into golf courses. arriving from the continent to winter in while waders between here and the beach Inland, a large proportion of the area is Britain. Divers, grebes and sea ducks may at Joss Bay include Purple Sandpiper and farmed and waders roost on these fields at be seen offshore in winter and Hen rarities on passage. The area around the high tide. Small areas of freshwater Harrier and Short-eared Owl hunt the sewage pumping station turns up regular marsh, reedbeds, bushes and trees add marshes. Next to Pegwell Bay, the old Shore Lark and the cabbage fields may diversity. This is a site where a telescope hover port has been reclaimed by nature attract anything during migration. is vital and knowledge of the tides most and produces a Wryneck or Hoopoe in In winter, this coast holds numbers of useful. The first spring arrivals are in most years. If one still has time, the Purple Sandpiper and Rock Pipit which March and include Garganey, Black Powell-Cotton Museum at Quex Park is can be found at any of the bays with Redstart and Firecrest, and by the end of worth a visit for its three galleries of careful searching, as can Black Redstart the month Sandwich Terns begin to taxidermic dioramas, depicting more than and, to a lesser extent, Shore Lark. appear. The bulk of the passage is from 500 African and Asian animals set against Ramsgate Harbour is famous for April to May, when several scarce their natural habitats. BW overwintering Kingfisher, as featured in migrants are regularly recorded, including the finale to last year’s BBC Winterwatch. Kentish Plover and Golden Oriole. The trio of regular diver species shelter Summer is quiet but as many as 30 INFO THANET pairs of Little Tern breed in the area, and Kittiwakes, l Ed would like to thank wildlife filmmaker Birding Margate cemetery from their breeding cliffs at Keith Ross (@ramsgatebirds on Twitter) for , are frequently seen. showing him around and Julie Andrews of The autumn wader Council (visitthanet.co.uk) for passage begins in mid-July facilitating the trip. and continues into l The artist J M Turner painted more September. East winds canvasses in Margate than anywhere else encourage the occasional and the best views are from the Sands hotel, fall, which inevitably where double rooms with breakfast costs from includes a scarce species or £120 per night. two. By late autumn, the Tel: 01843 228228 bulk consists of Goldcrest,

88 February 2019