u/Radwaymm

1. Little egret snacking on a Black-tailed skimmer.

2. Juvenile Pheasant with Blackberry stains on its beak.

3. Hen harrier.

4. A young Grey heron against a background of Purple Loosestrife.

5. Long-tailed tit.

6. Kestrel chomping on a Cockchafer.

7. Sandwich tern with a Sand eel.

8. Yellowhammer.

At Rye Harbour

Did you know the red-billed chough was once a familiar sight along Kent's cliffs and coastlines?

These striking birds, with their glossy black feathers, bright red beaks and red legs, disappeared from Kent more than 200 years ago due to habitat loss and persecution.

But their story never left Kent.

According to local legend, when Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, a black crow landed in his blood. The bird's beak and legs turned red, transforming it into a chough. That's why three choughs appear on Canterbury's coat of arms to this day.

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The birds also feature in Kent folklore and were even mentioned by Shakespeare when describing the cliffs around Dover.

Now, after decades of conservation work restoring Kent's chalk grasslands, the red-billed chough is making an incredible comeback. In 2023, the first birds were released near Dover as part of a partnership between Kent Wildlife Trust, Wildwood Trust and Paradise Park in Cornwall.

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The project has already achieved major milestones:

*First wild choughs released in Kent in 2023

*Wild breeding recorded at Dover Castle in 2025

*In 2025, a wild-born chick successfully fledged and survived independently — the first time in over 200 years that a red-billed chough has lived freely in the wild in Kent.

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