Thanet Birding - Birding main page
Foreness - Margate
Cemetery - Minnis Bay - Minster - North
Foreland - Northdown Park
Pegwell Bay - Ramsgate
Cemetery - Ramsgate Harbour
Minnis Bay proper is an ugly straggle of beach chalets on the promenade, but west of that it becomes a long shingle beach backed by a concrete sea wall built after the disastrous floods of the 50s. It goes all the way to the ruined church towers and Roman remains at Reculver, about five miles there and back. The fields behind the wall are crossed by numerous irrigation dykes. A raised embankment runs parallel to the railway line about half a mile inland. About halfway along the seawall is a saltwater lagoon known as Coldharbor. The broad ditch running due south of here is in fact the river Wantsum, one of the two rivers that once made Thanet an island. At the Birchington end there is a riding school at Plum Pudding Island, and just beyond that, heading west, a level crossing that puts you on the path to Shuart, where there are actual trees.
From Birchington Square on the A28 you can turn north up Station Road and proceed past the station to the seafront. Then keep right as far as you can go (a smart little cafe atop a feeble apology for a cliff). From there you can walk the seawall to Reculver and back, or head inland at Coldharbor and return alongside the railway line, with a there-and-back diversion to Shuart if you have the inclination. Not at all unpleasant if you like wide open spaces, but it's ghastly when the weather's grim.
Like most of Thanet, the migration seasons are the best times to visit Minnis, though winter can be profitable. You can seawatch anywhere along the sea wall, preferably when there's a good measure of east in the wind, and you can see as much here as at Foreness, sometimes even more (Reculver Towers offers some shelter for seawatching). Visible migration of passerines is often pronounced, with warblers and flycatchers sometimes descending in numbers around Shuart. Migrant waders are often to be found at Coldharbor, though in small numbers. Coldharbor is also the best area to see any Shorelarks or Snow Buntings that might be around in late autumn, and sometimes also Twite. In summer, Sedge and Reed Warblers breed in the reedy dykes, replaced in winter by Little Grebes and Teal. Mallard and Wigeon are inevitably present in winter, and other wildfowl as well as divers and grebes may be present offshore or in Coldharbor lagoon. Waders roost in considerable numbers at Coldharbor too. There are usually Corn Buntings around Plum Pudding Island, and always the chance of a winter Hen Harrier, Merlin or Short-eared Owl.
Rarities recorded from Minnis over the years include Purple Heron*, White Stork, Rough-legged Buzzard, Bewicks Swan, Bean Goose, Red-footed Falcon, Great Bustard, White-winged Black tern, Tawny Pipit, Yellow-browed Warbler and Dusky Warbler. (I don't go there too often, which partly accounts for why I've not seen many of these.)
Thanet Birding - Birding main page
Foreness - Margate
Cemetery - Minnis Bay - Minster - North
Foreland - Northdown Park
Pegwell Bay - Ramsgate
Cemetery - Ramsgate Harbour