Church Norton and the West Side

Yesterday brought a clear blue sky and bright sunshine for a change. I arrived at Church Norton early and expected to find large changes following the tree clearance, not as bad I thought it might have been, all done very thoughtfully with plenty of cover remaining - credit to the RSPB. The churchyard was very quiet except for a large influx of Blackbirds, I checked each one in the hope of finding one of the recently reported Ring Ouzels. I did a quick loop through the back and along the shore to the hide, in the bushes were a few Chiffchaffs and the occasional Blackcap whilst out in the harbour the usual suspects were showing but no sign of any larger egrets. On down to the beach. By the gate four late Swallows were feeding in the lee of the taller trees,  a large flock of Greenfinches on the beach, probably 50 birds in three groups, I wasn't sure whether they had just arrived or if the resident flock had  been reinforced. It all seemed very quiet for the time of year.

Back to the churchyard where I met Andrew House who also had little to report, so I decided to take a walk up the west side. With the tide rising rapidly I expected to see some activity but birding remained fairly slow. The Robin population has increased much the same as the Blackbirds, they are everywhere. As I reached the southern end of Long Pool I paused at the bench for about an hour, lots of Teal and Wigeon being pushed up the creek as the mud disappeared, a Kingfisher raced down towards the harbour, too quick for a shot. Behind me there were Stonechats, Linnets, a large number of Reed Buntings and a solitary Rock Pipit. Then I heard the unmistakeable "ping", two Bearded Tits landed in the reeds about fifteen yards away, everything was wrong, I was below them and the angle of the sun not optimum. I managed to locate a male for a few seconds, then the pair rose into the air, one went north the other south, never to be seen again. The walk back to the car at Church Norton was a bit of an anti-climax, I swear the Redshanks were laughing at me. However, I was lifted when I saw five Avocets relocating out in the harbour.