Today we went to Reculver. Snow buntings had been reported and we do not often get the chance to see this lovely bird from the north. However, we had not even left the car park before our attention was drawn to the noisy display of two ravens on and above the Reculver Towers. Ravens, along with choughs and jackdaws, are known for their acrobatic display flights. As we watched, one of the ravens was doing 360 degree tumbles – whether this was courtship display or aggression I don’t know. Terry tried some pictures and Sally had a go with video but you will just have to take my word for it – it was good to watch!
As we walked east we saw lots of redshanks and a big flock of 400+ brent geese could be seen ahead of us. Sally had carefully checked the tide tables before setting out and she told us that it was a rising tide with high tide just after mid day. However the movements of the geese and small waders seemed to me to all wrong. Eventually I challenged her to confirm the time of high tide. She was absolutely certain she was corrrect and she had a note on paper to prove it. Needless to say that when she produced the note from her pocket we discovered that the tide was the complete reverse of what she had told us! 
Fortunately snow buntings are not tide “aware” and we found ten of them happily feeding on small seeds at the top of the beach. I don’t know if these were birds that breed high in the Cairngorms in northern Britain or if they are from even further north. But this was our chance to catch up with them.
Malcolm