No Wheatears at Eastney Point, but plenty of Linnets.

Thursday 26th March 2026.

Linnets were the only notable birds seen at Eastney Point this morning. A flock of around 16 birds were feeding on the grass seed heads within the perimeter fence.

It was dry and bright this morning with hardly any clouds and even the wind had dropped considerably with a light northerly wind. However, it was still quite cold at first and I swapped my baseball cap for a warmer hat to wear on my first shift in Pembroke Road. After my first shift, I took the dogs for a walk around Eastney Point for, hopefully, an early Wheatear.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Surprisingly, despite the bright and sunny conditions, bird species were relatively low this morning with only 11 species seen or heard during the hour I was there. Out of all the species, a Goldfinch was probably the least expected. During the Autumn months, they are daily around the area, but this is the first bird I have seen here since January as the Goldfinch flew off west towards Portsmouth Harbour.

Eastney Point:

Eastney Pier in the sunshine.

I couldn't waste the opportunity in taking the dogs out in such fine weather and so rounded them up and got them in the back of the car and took the drive east to the Eastney Pier car park. It was very quiet there with only a few cars present as I first checked the harbour entrance which was in fact very quiet with only a few Black-headed Gulls present. 

Above, at least 4 Black-headed Gulls were on the beach by the car park. Below, a pair of Greenfinch were near the brambles including this male bird.

I checked the beach thoroughly for any Wheatears but drew a blank. So I made my way to the grassy field within the Water Treatment Works where, again, there was no sign of any Wheatears. However, a flock of around 16 Linnets were present picking off grass seed heads, before flying off north.

Above and below, some of the Linnets present here today.

A Cetti’s Warbler was calling deep within the brambles and a Dunnock was singing occasionally; but very little else of note here. I did walk further south to the beach by the Pier, but seeing there were a big pack of dogs being taken for their walk, I gave the place a miss in search of anything of note. This is normally a good spot for early Wheatears, but I had no luck this morning for this attractive early migrant. 

There were plenty of flowering plants around the Point today including the non-native Spanish Bluebells (above) and the Three-cornered Leek plants (below) as well as Red Dead-nettle and Periwinkle.

So there we have it; a very quiet spot of birding here at Eastney Point. Just a shame there were few birds around this morning although the Linnets put on a good show.

In Hampshire today:

Fellow ‘Lazee Birder’ Pete Gammage had up to 13 Wheatears off Pigeon House Lane, Portsdown Hill, this morning and also 17 Blackcaps around Fort Widley! Up to 4 Willow Warblers were heard singing at IBM Lake, Cosham and another singing at Lordshill, Southampton. Probably the same Great-tailed Grackle as the Southampton bird, was seen flying west around the Brownwich area.