Today was a casual-mega day out with Nick and Garry. The natural starting point was The Black Rabbit at Arundel, where we arrived before first light to the sound of two
Tawny Owls behind the car park. In the gloam we clocked the 10
Bewick's Swans leaving the reserve to spent the day feeding in nearby pastures, as well as two
Barn Owls, three
Mandarins, a
Woodcock and four
Marsh Harriers. A
Firecrest showed nicely, two
Egyptian Geese and three
Little Egrets flew over. We also heard
Water Rail,
Cetti's Warbler,
Mistle Thrush,
Snipe,
Chiffchaff and
Reed Bunting.
Moving round the corner to Swanbourne Lake, a donder around added three
Pochards, additional
Firecrest and
Mistle Thrush, a couple of
Treecreepers and singles of
Coal Tit,
Nuthatch and
Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Next up was Selsey Bill, where the sea delivered two
Great Northern Divers, an
Eider, five
Red-throated Divers, good numbers of
Razorbills, a
Guillemot and a few
Red-breasted Mergansers. A
Grey Wagtail flew over and a
Mediterranean Gull was along the beach.
Church Norton rewarded with the wholly unexpected, but much appreciated, sight of a
Black-throated Diver within the harbour. It was feeding actively well within the mouth but after one particular dive we lost sight of it entirely. A nice selection of common waders included
Bar-tailed Godwits,
Grey Plovers,
Turnstones and
Ringed Plovers, while seven
Mediterranean Gulls formed a small group. Three
Red-breasted Mergansers and three
Goldeneyes were within the harbour and it was nice to see a tight flock of eight
Little Grebes and a few
Pintail distantly. On the sea we enjoyed 18
Slavonian Grebes and a distant pair of
Velvet Scoters, as well as
Red-throated Diver. A flying visit to nearby Marsh Farm added
Cattle Egret - with at least 12 of the flock showing at close range but we couldn't stay long.
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| Black-throated Diver in Pagham Harbour at Church Norton |
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| Slavonian Grebe off Church Norton |
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| Cattle Egrets at Marsh Farm, Sidlesham |
We flew by Drayon Pit, part of the Chichester Gravel Pits complex, adding the
Great White Egret which Garry had seen there on New Year's Eve. This wonderfully undisturbed pit was full of wildfowl and looked ripe for a scarce duck or heron turning up. Worthy of regular checking... We then backtracked slightly, changing plan from a visit to Westdean Woods to instead stopping at Dell Quay. Highlights there included two
Spotted Redshanks, a
Greenshank, six
Goldeneyes and a few
Red-breasted Mergansers, nine
Little Grebes and good numbers of
Black-tailed Godwits,
Dark-bellied Brent Geese,
Grey Plovers,
Pintail,
Wigeon,
Teal. etc.
Another short stop was made at Climping, where we hoped to bag the Red-necked Grebe reported earlier in the day. Despite the three of us scanning intently for 20 minutes, just after other observers had left, besides
Great Crested Grebes we could 'only' find a
Slavonian Grebe.
Sanderling, however, was an addition to the day list, and several
Red-breasted Mergansers were offshore.
We rounded the day off by spending the last couple of hours of light at The Burgh. Eventually we got eyes on two ringtail
Hen Harriers and a
Short-eared Owl quartering. Two
Grey Partridges and a few
Red-legged Partridges were logged, while one field held a mix of
Fieldfares and
Skylarks. A couple of respectable flocks of
Linnets were bombing around, and two
Marsh Harriers (including an adult male) and a small handful of
Red Kites and
Buzzards were logged.
