A long walk at Walton

I visited Walton on the Naze today taking my Dad with me on a rare occasion without Jim junior in search of a Red-backed Shrike. We pulled into the car park at the Naze and asked at the cafe (like you do) for some directions as to the Shrike's location. Luckily the lady behind the counter runs the Holland Haven birding website and was very familiar with the Shrike and put us on a good path to it. We walked about a mile or so along the sea wall passing first the John Weston nature reserve then the sewage farm which was particularly unpleasant in the warm breezy air. I quickly picked up the Shrike (272)  as it sat at the top of a thorny bush and gave the scope to Dad to get on then we lost it as a Kestrel landed in a bush not far from the bird.
In the next hour and a half we had no more of it but did connect with at least five Whinchats and four Yellow Wagtails before walking back and seeing three Wheatears on the sandy cliff banks. Photographic opportunity was sadly missing today despite me lugging both scope and camera all the way. The walk was much longer than I'd imagined when I invited Dad but he survived it thankfully.