Tuesday 08 June -Sand Point Nick Hawkridge

Picnic walk in warm weather – what luxury! Seven, a good number to ensure we all saw/heard the birds on offer. Shelduck on the salt flats, Stonechat in the scrub – one of many we saw during the day, including juvenile Whitethroat singing, at the Point and all along our walk route. A concerted effort was made to see the Garden Warbler we could hear. Green and Goldfinch were singing and calling, with a bold chested Linnet adding to the noise – all heard before the turn down to the riverside path. A poor showing was made by Swift, Swallow and House Martin – not over a handful of each. We discussed gull differences – a Great Black-backed Gull (3rd yr) provoked this particular interchange, we heard and then saw Rock Pipit. Lunch by the defunct mine testing jetty where a Lesser Whitethroat sang alongside a Chaffinch just to add confusion. The walk back allowed us better views of Rock Pipit, with a ‘beakful’ parent refusing to go to the nest until we were at least 70 metres away. A total of 37 species were seen and heard and excellent identification support from the participants.  (Thanks to Nick for leading)  Nick Hawkridge