Early season site visit

On the 5th March 2022 twelve members of the group met at the Presthaven gate to visit the colony out of season and see how things had changed following several late winter storms.

The walk to the beach on the refurbished boardwalk was most pleasant in the warm Spring sunshine. As ever, the shingle banks have changed since last season appearing to be slightly lower but with a good mix of pebbles and sand, presenting a good nesting habitat.

Today’s high tide was at 12.30pm and 8.5m. Albeit with little wind, the tide line was well below the nesting area. It is likely that fencing will be similarly placed as last season. The visitor centre will no doubt be erected in the usual place but the hide will need to be moved because it now overlooks a dune rather than the beach. A new location closer to the visitor centre was identified.

Laurence Clark had checked out the connectivity with a view to live streaming to a website. The outcome was positive. It will be possible to use a mobile phone, a battery and a solar panel to provide a feed that can be moved around as required. This may be something that NWLTG might like to fund.

Birds seen:

Cormorant, Little Egret, Mute Swan, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Common Scoter (five close to shore), Kestrel, Moorhen, Coot, Oyster Catcher, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Knot, Sanderling, Turnstone, Dunlin, Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Dunnock, Robin, Stonechat, Blackbird, Cetti’s Warbler (heard), Magpie, Carrion Crow, Reed Bunting.