Another excellent trip to Sandy Point.

Saturday 27th January 2024.

Dunlin and a Ringed Plover at the Black Point wader roost, digiscoped from Sparkes Marina this morning. This was our first sighting of a Ringed Plover this year! A Purple Sandpiper was found among the waders later in the afternoon.

It was back down to Sandy Point on Hayling Island this morning, having contemplated both Pennington Marshes or Acres Down; but I went for Sandy Point instead and with both Andy Fisher and Geoff Farwell in attendance, we had a good days birding on this superb island. All three Diver species were noted today including a distant Black-throated Diver, which was fishing in the harbour. We watched the bird catching crabs and devouring them, with a few Great Crested Grebes in attendance. The ‘Black-throat’ was our first ‘year-tick’ of the day and greatly appreciated by Andy Fisher. Also near the Diver was several Mergansers and a flock of Pintail; the latter eventually flying out into the Solent a bit later along with a large flock of Wigeon.

Above, incoming Dunlin arriving on the sands at Black Point and joining the Ringed Plover already there.

Above, a flock of Pintail flying out into the Solent and below, a large flock of Wigeon following them.

We parked ourselves by the RNLI Building and from here, we picked up at least four Great Northern Divers of which two were in the harbour entrance and another two within the harbour. I also picked up three Red-throated Divers swimming together also in the harbour entrance before they all flew off heading eastbound. At least 6 Sandwich Terns flew out of the harbour before we left to take a look at the wader roost off Sparkes Marina. We encountered a female Goldcrest along the footpath back to the car, but little else of note along there. While enjoying a hot cup of coffee overlooking the waders coming in on the sandbank off the Marina, we finally found our first Ringed Plovers of the year. Well, Geoff did actually! The majority of the waders were Dunlin with at least a 100 birds present along with 20+ Sanderling, 6 Ringed Plover, 4 Turnstone and a lone Curlew. Around 6 Grey Plover came into the roost, but there was no sign of the wintering Purple Sandpiper here, though it was seen by some fellow ‘Lazee’s’ later in the afternoon. Andy spotted a Greenshank flying high over the roost heading into the harbour, while nearby, at least 4 Redshank were present nearby among the small number of Brent Geese.

Waders in the roost at Black Point, including this large flock of Dunlin, with Sanderling and Ringed Plover among them. Below, one of the four Great Northern Divers seen from the RNLI Building.

Above, the waders pouring onto the sands at Black Point.

We were hoping for a Slavonian Grebe today and seeing we had no luck from Sandy Point, we tried our luck overlooking Hayling Bay. Parking off Southwood Road, we had lunch by the beach and picked up three Common Scoters on the sea, a drake and two females. A couple of Great Crested Grebes were seen offshore, including a flying bird heading east and an adult Mediterranean Gull flew east close in over the sea. After lunch, we made our way to the eastern end of Southwood Road and took a stroll along the edge of the reserve. We found a male Stonechat perched on one of the Gorse bushes and after a conversation with a couple of birders who told us that they had seen some Dartford Warblers earlier, we made our way to the area where they said they saw them. On arrival, Hayling birder (now Shetlands!) Andy Johnson joined us and after a good chat, we made our way back to where he recommended to see the Warblers. However, I caught sight of a male Dartford Warbler flying onto a sprig of Gorse and quickly got the guys onto the bird. It was then joined by another male bird and so quickly got the camera onto them and filmed the birds.

Above, the top shell of a Spider Crab (a rather small one!) Below, a male Stonechat on Sandy Point Nature Reserve.

Above, three Meadow Pipits popped up on the reserve and below, we finally found our first Dartford Warblers of the year, also on the reserve; both male birds.

Above, the pair of male Dartford Warblers on the reserve and below, Andy pointing out the Common Scoters from the beach.

We did round the day off by the Toilet Block Car Park along Southwood Road, hoping for an outside chance of a Black Redstart; but as expected, it was a long shot and so after another cup of coffee, we called it a day. Not a bad day, with three more ‘year-ticks’ under our belts (127 species for the year so far) and a nice variety of birds to be seen. Also good to bump into Andy Johnson again too. Emma and Matt Parkes got to see the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Acres Down early this morning and even managed a good photo of the bird too. A Whimbrel was seen on Hayling Oyster Beds today and the drake Ferruginous Duck was still on Posbrook Floods along with the nearby Glossy Ibis.   

The two male Dartford Warblers on Sandy Point Nature Reserve this afternoon.