Spring at Walton-on-the-Naze

17th April 2016

When looking for Spring migrants what better place to try than Walton-on-the-Naze. Even as we left the car park there was a lot of birdsong, not from migrants but the usual selection of residents including Starlings, a Wren and a Dunnock.

Further down the slope a pair of Linnets were prospecting for a suitable nest site allowing a few shots to be taken including a rather unexpected flight shot and a more typical pose on top of a sprig of Gorse.

But so much for the residents and now on to the migrants. Amazingly, despite the time of year and the enormous size of the site we didn't see or hear a single Willow Warbler. There were a few Blackcaps and Lesser Whitethroats around, but these were all keeping deep inside the bushes preventing any photos to be taken. At last a Chiffchaff became a little more cooperative and posed briefly for a single shot.

But the star of the show today was this male Whitethroat which not only sang virtually continuously to advertise its presence, but also posed a number of times on brambles and also some Blackthorn blossom which provided a great back-drop.

I have been coming to Walton for a number of years now, including the nearly five years that I have had my camera and although it doesn't often turn up much really out of the ordinary, it normally manages to deliver a number of good photo opportunities.