RSPB Notes for Thursday, April 27 SPRING MIGRANTS were everywhere when 17 Taunton RSPB local group members met for a recent field meeting at Stolford to walk along the sea wall and around the perimeter of Hinkley Point power station.

First bird sighted was a whimbrel on the mud flats, together with a curlew, two little egrets and some shelduck, while overhead there seemed to be hoards of swallows, plus the odd house martin and sand martin.

A list of 18 species was logged before leaving the cars, among which was a singing whitethroat. Warblers were present in large numbers and before the walk was completed species of warblers seen as well as the whitethroat were willow warbler, chiffchaff, blackcap, garden warbler, reed warbler and sedge warbler, all of which were well in song.

The boulders along the sea wall are always worth scanning for incoming wheatears and sure enough a male and female in superb plumage were soon located. This almost paled into insignificance later in the day when a fall of 14 wheatears was seen on a close-cropped grassy area. Probably congregating and feeding up while waiting for the misty air to clear enough to continue their journey north across the Bristol Channel.

More whimbrel were seen and other migrants added to the growing list included redstart and, finally, a single nightingale that only offered a very brief glimpse of itself as the party marvelled over the loud, clear and throbbing notes of this renowned songster.

Some time was spent, and even more debate followed, about the identification of reed and sedge warblers, but fortunately there were good views of both species and a chance to compare the similar song.

Other highlights included a high-flying raven attempting to mug a buzzard and the wonderful sight of trilling skylarks fluttering against a light sky.

The migrants made all the difference to the days tally, a magnificent total of 59 species.

Diary date: Tuesday, May 9. Horner Woods. Meet at car park, map ref SS898455, 10am. Led by Colin Sampson (Taunton 330447).