Taking an early train to Havant Station, I biked from there straight to Sandy Point for some seawatching in the hopes the nice conditions would yield something good.], and I got there at about 7:50. It was slow at first, but a mixed flock of Bar-tailed Godwits and Whimbrel giving some hope- the Barwits my first of the year. Not too long later, a Kittiwake flew into the harbour, another year tick, and my first in Hampshire, big thanks to Andy for pointing it out.
Things went very quiet for a while, but a few Sandwich Terns were present.
A Kestrel and Sparrowhawk flew over, and a Cormorant was fishing on the sea.
With little to no movement offshore, I decided to have a look around Black Point to see if any waders were about. Although I couldn't find any high tide roost, a few Common Terns were my first of the year.
Whitethroat and Linnet were also numerous, with both giving photo oppurtunities.
A Starling perched up on the fence, with a nice background, but sadly didn't look my way before flying off. 
Nothing else seemed to be about, and I sat down for another chunk of seawatching. About an hour later, feeling quite deflated with the lack of anything moving other than a few Gannets, I walked down again to Black Point with another birder, and had lunch watching the Terns.
After a bit more of watching and waiting, and nothing of interest turning up, I thought I should probably head off to the Oysterbeds to see what was there. A total of 38 species were seen at Sandy Point during the five and a half hours there.
At the Oysterbeds, there were hundreds of Black-headed Gulls, and quite a few Common Terns, but nothing else was immediately obvious.
After a walk around, nothing of note was present, and nothing was showing very well, other than this Linnet.
Nothing else was present, so I decided to head back to Havant and catch a train home. Overall, it was a very successful trip, with three year ticks and a Hampshire tick— along with a very good exercise, with a total of 19 miles cycled.
No comments:
Post a Comment