Thanet Birding - Birding main page
Foreness - Margate
Cemetery - Minnis Bay - Minster - North
Foreland - Northdown Park
Pegwell Bay - Ramsgate
Cemetery - Ramsgate Harbour
The estuary of the River Stour, up which once sailed the slave galleys of the Romans. These days it mainly sees water-skiers. As estuaries go, Pegwell is pretty small, which means it might not hold that many birds but at least you've got a reasonable chance of seeing almost everything that is there. Deep-channelled swathes of Spartina grass separate the birders from their quarry, though, and lots of birds like to lurk in the saltmarsh so a bit of patience can be called for.
You have a choice of places to park. The picnic site (P1) offers ample parking but a small fee is charged and the gates are locked every evening. There is a smaller carpark opposite the Sportsman pub (P2) which is free and always open.
As with most estuaries, the best time to visit Pegwell is either a couple of hours before high tide (so the birds get pushed up towards you) or less preferably about an hour after high tide (when they follow the receding shoreline). If high water is around mid-day then the tide is extremely high, flooding most of the saltmarsh, and consequently comes in faster and takes longer to go out. Morning and evening high water generally leaves at least some of the mud exposed. Because you're facing almost due east, the best time to visit is when high tide is in the evening. That way you get the sun behind you as the birds come closer and closer. (Check local press for tides.)
There is a hide along the sea wall, on a low mound to give it a bit of height. Local birders tend to exploit the height advantage by standing in front of the hide rather than sitting in it (being inside compromises field of view). The hide is locked in the evening anyway.
For diversity of species and ease of access, Pegwell is probably the best birding spot on Thanet. It offers waders and gulls throughout the year, warblers and terns in summer, wildfowl and raptors in winter, and the usual diversity in spring and autumn. You do, however, have to time your visit carefully to fit the tide, and seawatching is right out. If the weather suggests passerine migration, you're probably better off trying the Foreness area or Reculver.
So-called because there used to be a cafe where the garage now stands. These enticing-looking pools rarely hold half as much as they ought to, though this might be connected with the level of disturbance they get, lying as they do so near to the footpath. You have a better chance of scoring first thing in the morning - I once flushed a pair of Garganey here, and Spoonbill has also been seen paddling around in the pools - but even then you might well end up with two Redshank and a Shelduck. The saltmarsh around the pools seems to be a favourite haunt of Jack Snipe in March/April, but finding them can be hard work.
The mudflats are the obvious focus of interest, but they can be unpredictable and might yield next to nothing even in promising conditions. Spring passage of waders is generally light, even with easterly winds blowing, but occasional goodies can turn up. Summer sees the flats left to the resident Redshank, Oystercatcher and Shelduck with little else to look at. Little Terns used to breed on Shellness Point (across the river) and so a few might be flying around in the summer months. Sedge and Reed Warblers breed around Stonelees.
From late July the waders start to return, and are at their best from mid-August to the end of September. Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint are regular, Black-tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank and Ruff rather less so. Kentish Plover are recorded annually. Terns roost on the mud in some numbers in the autumn, sometimes over a thousand of them, and there might be an Arctic or Roseate in with the Common Terns. A Mediterranean Gull or two is often present, and Yellow-legged Gulls have been found among the Herrings. These days it's not unusual for a Little Egret to hang around for a few days (up to four have been present at a time).
As autumn wears on so the migrants disappear, replaced by the winter residents which include several hundred Dunlin and Grey Plover, along with smaller numbers of Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit. Wildfowl are also present in the winter, mainly the ubiquitous Mallard but also Wigeon and Teal, often Gadwall and/or Pintail as well. Hen Harrier and Merlin sometimes hunt over the saltmarsh as well as - though less frequently - Peregrine. Low tides in the evening see thousands of gulls fly in from the nearby refuse tip at Richborough - if there's a Glaucous or an Iceland around, it may well turn up on the mud. Twite and Lapland Bunting are sometimes present on the saltmarsh at this time of year.
This small patch of scrub immediately adjacent to the picnic site was established as a nature reserve primarily for its botanical and entomological interest, but it's not entirely birdless. Not quite. It harbours small numbers of migrant warblers and other passerines in spring and autumn, and there's always a chance of something that little bit rarer. It's a useful place to stroll around while you're waiting for the tide to drop (but watch out for the horse flies in summer).
Hoverspeed pulled out years ago, leaving a derelict shell of a building and a broad concrete apron. The derelict shell has now been demolished and the apron is weeding over. (Abstruse cinematic note: Michael Caine once smuggled something through here in some film or other - if you know which movie, let me know.) The low cliffs immediately behind the hoverport are heavily scrubbed over with hawthorn and sometimes hold migrant passerines. Some of the waders (mainly the smaller stuff) also roost on the fringes of the apron. Immediately east of the hoverport is a small sandy beach, thickly overgrown with sea beet and orache, and the cliffs are topped with hawthorn and blackthorn - migrants can turn up here as well. The cliffs overlook the eastern end of the mudflats, but not many birds use this area of mud - a pity because you could get smashing views of them. There is some vis mig to be had in the autumn, though.
Note that you can't get down to the hoverport by car - the slip road from the A256 is securely fenced off. But you can walk down from the Viking Ship (a replica, sailed over to celebrate the anniversary of Hengist and Horsa's invention of the seaside holiday).
Pegwell has made an impressive contribution to the Thanet avifauna over the years, but it tends not to get that many rare birds. Foreness/North Foreland and Reculver are better for seabirds and passerines. Nevertheless, quite a few rare birds have turned up at Pegwell, including Collared Pratincole, White-rumped Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs (in 1943), Red-necked Phalarope, Yellow-legged Gull, Sabine's Gull, Ivory Gull (1951), Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Hoopoe*, Bluethroat, Dartford Warbler and Woodchat Shrike.
Thanet Birding - Birding main page
Foreness - Margate
Cemetery - Minnis Bay - Minster - North
Foreland - Northdown Park
Pegwell Bay - Ramsgate
Cemetery - Ramsgate Harbour