Walton-on-the-Naze, 2nd July 2024

A trip to Walton looking for Little Terns was the plan today, somewhat hampered by unexpected drizzle. It did eventually dry up but not ideal conditions! Walking up the coast from the Tower, the tide was just starting to go down. The first waders we encountered were Turnstones, with quite a few spotted.

The other common wader was Ringed Plover, with quite a few about and one pair had chicks though I did not get any shots of the youngsters.

It was also good to see a few Dunlin, some still sporting full breeding plumage.

Other waders seen included Redshank, Curlew, Avocet and Oystercatchers. The piping calls from the Oystercatchers made a great backdrop to Stone Point.

A couple of shots at the end of Stone Point.

Finally we encountered a couple of Common Terns and two or three Sandwich Terns, all quite distant. Scanning a sandbank offshore I spotted a very small Tern. A Gull buzzed it and a small flock of Terns flew up - Our target bird Little Tern! Again very distant and so no shots. They soon disappeared, but we had another glimpse of four birds a bit later. Walton Channel had good numbers of Barnacle Geese and these were easier to photograph.

If Little Tern was the best bird of the day, Bar-Tailed Godwit was not far behind. One bird was seen on the walk up Stone Point and I managed a few images.

A great day out with some super birds and hopefully we may get some sun for future trips!