Another first Britain, another trip to Nottingham? No, this one, an American Coot, had appeared in a ditch at Stodmarsh, a huge wetland in the heart of Kent.
Sadly no further details were noted about how I got down to Kent this time. All I remember is that Philip was with me as he ticked Green-winged Teal the same afternoon.
The American Coot was seen well, down to a ten metres, in a large dyke at the edge of the reedbed. Chunky, with a dark mark near the end of a thick white bill. A comparatively small white face shield topped with a red-brown flat fleshy knob. Eye red-brown. Otherwise, similar to Euro Coot, though had Moorhen-like white outertail, shorter neck and a bigger head. Quite dull, really!
After watching this beauty (!), we wandered back along the floodbank to check out the drake Green-winged Teal which was far more handsome. Plenty of summer migrants noted including Cuckoo, Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Swallow and my first Swifts of the year.
After Kent, we headed back to Norwich via Upware in Cambridgeshire. After a bit of searching, we found the first-winter Pacific Golden Plover with about 600 Euro Goldies. It was showing well in a ploughed field and in flight, where the grey underwings were easy to see in good light. At a distance it appeared small and pale, with a striking face pattern. The long legs were not that apparent when the bird was walking about feeding, but were more obvious when the bird was still. A different shape and appearance to American Golden Plover and not as grey.
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