Port police leaving after checking permits today.

A dark billed common tern

Seaforth NR

With a clear sky last night and with the white-tailed lapwing feeding eagerly yesterday it was no surprise that it had departed after a 2 day stay . TC had already put the negative news out but there was still a couple of hardy souls viewing from the fence in the pouring rain.

A little owl was on the mound and a whitethroat sang in the pouring rain as I came down to the hide. 22 dunlin,43 bar tailed godwits, 5 knot and 2 turnstone were present and 2 sandwich terns were among the common terns. An dark billed common tern was interesting. A peregrine over also.

A visit from the port police to check out all the birders present had permits was a sign that they were determined not to allow birders without permits on to the dock complex. Permission was sought but flatly denied by the authorities.