Tuesday 14 August 2018

Goring, Pagham Harbour, Northcommon Farm and Medmerry/Ham

Before meeting up with Paul and Zac at Pagham, I had a quick whizz around Goring Gap, rewarded by a fly-over Tree Pipit (a patch tick), a Whinchat and 15 Willow Warblers. On the beach were 10 Sanderlings, 25 Turnstones, 28 Little Egrets, four Oystercatchers, two Dunlin and a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull. A male Sparrowhawk flew over with prey.

Whinchat at Goring Gap

Church Norton gave us a nice couple of hours of birding. A couple of Lesser Whitethroats and Willow Warblers were in the bushes, while Red-legged Partridge called behind, and the harbour provided a sizeable flock of Dunlin to scan through, although there was nothing different in their midst. A juvenile Greenshank and a Whimbrel showed nicely and the flock of seven Pale-bellied Brent Geese put in a brief appearance. Best of all was an Osprey - thanks to some nearby birders for the shout - which put in an appearance as it tracked over to the north of us. Swallows, House and Sand Martins were feeding. We saw just singles of Mediterranean Gull and Black-tailed Godwit, though the latter showed features of the nominate form, and the tern island was clear - just the odd Sandwich Tern knocking about in the harbour.

Whimbrel at Church Norton

A short trip to Northcommon Farm near Selsey drew a blank for flycatchers - just a single Willow Warbler being noted there, as well as a Sparrowhawk with prey. The Wellings took off home and after bidding them farewell I thought I'd try my luck with the Hooded Crow at Medmerry/Ham, which I connected with surprisingly easily. Other bits in this flying visit included two Yellowhammers, a Willow Warbler and a Yellow Wagtail.

Hooded Crow at Medmerry