Trip report: Berrow (17 February 2013)

The planned walk was to watch winter thrushes and Blackcaps feasting on the masses of Sea Buckthorn berries in an area of the dunes at Berrow that gets very little attention from birdwatchers. Unfortunately, the snow fall early in the year heralded the arrival of thousands of birds, which subsequently devoured virtually every single berry. Our meeting point was the small car park along the coast road. Twelve members/non-members duly arrived 9 on a glorious spring morning, bright sunshine and crystal blue skies. However, they missed best birds which had already passed over while I was waiting for the attendees. The first was a fine Red Kite drifting northeast being mobbed by a couple of Crows, quickly followed by two Siskins and three Redpolls also heading north. These sightings buoyed my optimism for the meeting. A very pleasant walk however yielded very little. We all enjoyed excellent views of several Bullfinches and Linnets. Once on the beach, where the sea nearly looked blue, we had plenty of Sanderling and Dunlin dashing along the tide edge allowing a great comparison of these species. Two Shoveler flew past over the sea, these are unusual here. On such a lovely day, it’s sometimes just great to be outside enjoying the coastal fresh air. Thank you to all who attended and for Andrew Slade for leading.