The Stour Valley list for 2019 stands at 91 species so far.
January 12th
Birding at Grove Ferry 16:00-17:00 produced 1 ringtail Hen Harrier (Chiddy had another through earlier) 5 Bewick's Swans (3 juveniles) flew into the main pool at 16:15. Also seen were 1 Bearded Tit, 3 Water Pipit, 1 Grey Heron, 12 Corn Bunting, 1 Sparrowhawk, c40 Mute Swan, c50 Lapwing, 5 Marsh Harrier, c200 Fieldfare, 15 Greylag Geese and 4 Woodcock out of roost. This morning at Stodmarsh Sue Morton, Bernie Weight, Dave Sutton and Martyn Wilson had a Bittern circling over the reed bed for up to 5 minutes before heading towards Grove, the 6 Pink-footed Geese left the Grove area and headed off towards Seaton. Two ringtail Hen Harriers quartering the reeds together with a Barn Owl behind, 15 Marsh Harriers out of roost, 7 Water Pipits on the freshly dug area where the American Coot was in 1996 and, a Great-white Egret.
(Marc Heath)