Grain and Allhallows 25th June

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A beautiful sunny morning, though a depressing start to the day when checking out the Sandwich Tern colony on Burntwick Island, viewed from the shore at Grain. Serious disturbance had been reported the previous morning as a result of two individuals landing on the island. We hoped that some adult terns may have returned to the colony, but it appeared to be deserted. Truly awful.

Things could only get better after that and Murray and I went to Allhallows, and a particular area I had not visited before.  The adjacent small golf course has some rich flower meadows in the 'rough' full of knapweed, field scabious, yarrow and many others. A juvenile cuckoo flew up from this area and landed in a bush nearby. The bird had brownish upperparts though blackish barring on the head and breast. Another cuckoo was later seen in the same area, thought to be an adult female.

The beach is attractive and very clean, with an impressive salt marsh backing onto it. After earlier reports we checked the area for ringed plovers, though only saw four in total.









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