WHINCHATS

   Following reports today of a few migrants making their way south along the coast I paid a brief visit to Lowestoft north beach and walked to Ness Point to see what was around. Making my way along the sea wall I saw several Wheatear on the shoreline and at the bird's eye factory along with a few Turnstones; further out at sea quite a number of Terns were hunting along with the obligatory collection of Gulls. In the area near the net posts I spotted two Whinchats and managed to creep closer to get a few photos before they were put up  by a dog being walked.

   The Whinchat is another of our migrant birds that arrive in April and May from Africa and breeds in the north and west of the country. They nest in a variety of landscapes which include rough grassland, bracken, moorland and young forestry plantations in May and June and often manage to raise a second brood before leaving our shores in August and September. When migrating south they often stop off in Spain or Portugal and feed up before crossing the Mediterranean and the Sahara in one go which is pretty remarkable for a bird a little smaller than our Robin. The pictures here show the birds in autumn plumage but if seen in the spring the males especially have much more vivid plumage with black cheeks and prominent white stripes above and below and an orange/brown chest.