A party of nineteen assembled near the Newlands Corner visitor centre on a bright sunny morning, eagerly anticipating a walk in a location new for the group. Wrens, chaffinches, song thrushes and blackbirds were in good voice while a blue tit enjoyed the feeders in the revamped wild life garden. We began with a descent of Albury Down through thickets that were alive with singing whitethroats a couple of which gave fleeting views. A kestrel hovered in front of us while two buzzards could be seen circling high above. Two swifts swooped past closely followed by a house martin and some swallows. Chiffchaffs and blackcaps started to make their presence felt. The farm at the bottom of the Down was the home of some house sparrows. There we were alerted to the presence of a sparrowhawk by the shrill alarm call of two passing swallows. As we turned west a stock dove cooed out of sight and a green woodpecker mocked our inability to see it. By now we were hearing the repeated calls of a cuckoo (or possibly two). At the foot of St Martha’s Hill we could hear both goldcrests and firecrests but could not spot them among the leaf cover. After a refreshing climb to the church we rested to the song of a greenfinch on top of the weather vane. Towards the foot of the hill on the downwards path more firecrests were singing and one allowed a brief view as it flitted about. Back on the open meadow a skylark at last ascended pouring out its sweet song. Finally in the woods we heard the songs of a coal tit and a nuthatch followed by an unusual call from within a large yew; a bird dropped to the grounds and astonishingly was identified as a hawfinch, certainly the bird of the day. As a last hurrah two nuthatches appeared on the path ahead and could be seen gathering food for nestlings. We enjoyed a most productive day with a species list of 38.