Kicking off in Kent!

We took Gerald, from Oregon, on a private day tour of Kent on Sunday. Our tours typically go very well, but this one was an absolute classic! We made a good team and knocked it out of the park on every stop.

Sevenoaks produced amazing views of Kingfisher searching for tiddlers in the water below, as well as getting woodland treats like Nuthatch and Treecreeper under our belts.

Amazing views of fishing Kingfisher!

Oare Marshes came up trumps, starting with views of a juvenile Turtle Dove and hunting Hobbies on the way in...

Juvenile Turtle Dove on the wires at Oare, kicking off our visit before we had even parked!

The East Flood was heaving with waders, including Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff, Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwits, Golden Plovers, Avocets and so on... A flock of around 40 Common Terns migrating overhead even contained five Black Terns as an added bonus!

Golden Plovers were a wader highlight at Oare — such stunners!

Juvenile Ruff and 'Reeve' (female) at Oare

The Bearded Reedlings gave themselves up by the road, but we still went for a short walk, which resulted in amazing views of two juvenile Green Woodpeckers, and sightings of a host of warblers: Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat and Cetti's Warbler. A male Marsh Harrier quartered the West Flood and we had amazing views of two Spoonbills.

Bearded Reedling vied for our attention as we worked through the waders at Oare

Juvenile Green Woodpecker showing nicely at Oare

The Spoonbills spent most of their time asleep, but did perform one fly-by!

After searching for Honey Buzzard, and seeing an adult male circling within moments, we moved on to Blean Woods.

We were very lucky with our Honey Buzzard encounter

This was the one spot where we didn't find our target, Bullfinch. It felt eerily quiet for most of the walk, then we stopped when we encountered a tit flock. Within the next few minutes we had logged Firecrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Marsh Tit, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and, best of all, a rare find with a migrant Wood Warbler feeding in the canopy!

The highlight of an unbelievable few minutes at Blean Woods, which also featured Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, was this migrant Wood Warbler, quite a scarcity these days!

Firecrest was another bird among the Blean flurry of activity!

This juvenile Spotted Flycatcher was still being fed by its parents

It couldn't get better than that! With Gerald set to fly home the next morning, the birding had gone so well that we were able to get him back to the hotel ahead of schedule so he could rest up.

Birding with Gerry was a total delight — we hope to see you again soon.