Pagham Harbour

Ingrid and I dashed over to Church Norton mid-afternoon, naively assuming that we'd get at least one of the three potential year-ticks on offer. Gareth had beaten us there but there was no sign of the Roseate Tern, the Osprey, nor the Little Stints. We gave it an hour, enjoying a scattering of waders including Knot, Grey Plover, Snipe, four juvenile Black-tailed Godwits, Common Sandpiper, two Whimbrel, Turnstone and a reasonable scattering of Dunlin and Ringed Plover. An adult Peregrine was on one of the islands. A few Sandwich Tern loafed on the sand, a Swallow patrolled and a Mediterranean Gull flew over.

Pagham Harbour

Church Norton had a Firecrest and a Chiffchaff in the bushes near the car park, while I saw the wintering Whimbrel for the first time this year from the benches. The tide was low, but waders included a Knot, 85 Grey Plovers, nine Ringed Plovers, 800 Lapwings, 47 Oystercatchers, 300 Dunlin and 13 Turnstones. Making my way along the spit, I viewed across the harbour mouth and thanks to over-the-phone directions from Nick and Gareth connected with the Hooded Crow - a bird I thought I'd lucked out on this year. A Sandwich Tern fishing offshore was a pleasant surprise, and other highlights included a pair of Peregrines, five Mediterranean Gulls, seven, Little Grebes, 270 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, seven Pintail, 150 Teal, 50 Wigeon, 56 Shelducks, two Meadow Pipits, five Skylarks, and singles of Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Little Egret and Reed Bunting. A Sparrowhawk flew over the car as I drove out through Sidlesham.

Hooded Crow (left) with Carrion Crow

Whimbrel

Arundel, Offham, Church Norton, Medmerry RSPB, Goring Gap, Newhaven and Rodmell Brooks

A day out with Surrey birders Ed and Arjun started at The Black Rabbit, Arundel. Here at dawn we logged two Woodcocks, two Barn Owls, a Tawny Owl, a Kingfisher, a Firecrest, a Mandarin, four Marsh Harriers, a Brambling, a Reed Bunting, a Sparrowhawk, three Little Egrets, two Egyptian Geese, and, least expected, heard a Little Owl calling from behind us.

A flying visit to Offham had us viewing the 10 Bewick's Swans from a different angle to the norm! A flock of 41 Cormorants heading south was interesting.

Church Norton was disappointing for birds offshore, with only a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers and a few distant flocks of Razorbills, though a flock of 60 surely wild Barnacle Geese in-off and an adult male Peregrine feasting on a kill made the stop worthwhile.

Medmerry was gusty but provided two Black Redstarts, as well as the usual Common Scoter raft offshore.

Black Redstart at Medmerry

Goring Gap was quiet other than good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers and Great Crested Grebes offshore and some of the usual waders on the beach, including around 40 Grey Plovers.

We visited Riverside Park, Newhaven, for the HUME'S WARBLER, which thankfully gave good, though brief, views in the end, and treated us to occasional bouts of incessant calling. Also on site was a Chiffchaff, a Cetti's Warbler, a Sparrowhawk, 20 Lapwings and a Redwing.

The East Pier at Newhaven held three Purple Sandpipers.

Rodmell Brooks held the two Pink-footed Geese amid the Mute Swan herd, while six Little Egrets flew through and a flock of Redwings contained a couple of Fieldfares.

Arundel, Selsey Bill, Pagham Harbour, Dell Quay, Climping and The Burgh

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.

Black-throated Diver in Pagham Harbour at Church Norton

Slavonian Grebe off Church Norton

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.

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

Goring, Pagham Harbour and West Worthing

Mag joined me for a short watch at Goring Gap this morning. Conditions weren't great and it was soon evident that little was moving, but three season-firsts involved a Shoveler on the beach with a Teal, and a Dunlin. Other sightings included a Whimbrel, seven Little Egrets, three juvenile Grey Herons, five eastbound Swifts, three adult Mediterranean Gulls, five Oystercatchers, an adult Common Gull, two Pied Wagtails and five Sandwich Terns.

Shoveler (left) and Teal at Goring Gap

Cutting our losses, we headed to Pagham Harbour. Starting at Church Norton, we spotted the exceptional summer flock of seven Pale-bellied Brent Geese that has been on site for a while now, along with a lone Dark-bellied Brent Goose. Waders included a Whimbrel, a Bar-tailed Godwit, seven Dunlin, 24 Turnstones and four Black-tailed Godwits. Dozens of Sandwich Terns and Little Terns were busy in the harbour, along with a much smaller number of Common Terns, and the odd Mediterranean Gull called or sailed by. Eight Teal and six Little Egrets were present. 40 Swallows, three Sand Martins and a House Martin were feeding. Moving around to the Ferry Pool, we added a Common Sandpiper, four Avocets, eight Lapwings and a further four Black-tailed Godwits. Two Little Ringed Plovers were - amazingly - the first I've seen this year!

In the evening, I popped around the corner from home to post some mail and managed a pretty accurate count of around 40 Swifts swirling over my road at 21:00.

Northend and Pagham Harbour

Driving back down to Worthing early afternoon I saw a Red Kite by the A24 at Northend - between Washington and Findon. A lovely birthday evening stroll around Pagham Harbour with Ingrid featured a stunning summer plumage Spotted Redshank, as well as a Knot, 35 Black-tailed Godwits, two Grey Plovers and four Avocets of particular note, as well as the usual terns including Littles, and Mediterranean Gull. As always, Ingrid was besotted with the Curlews!

adult summer Spotted Redshank in the Ferry Channel

Curlew at Pagham Harbour

Pagham Harbour

While seawatching off Walney Island the previous evening, the news broke that the colour-ringed American Royal Tern - usually of Channel Islands residence - had pitched up at Pagham. After a little bit of dithering, we made the inevitable decision of interrupting my visit to Walney and driving south overnight. We set off at about 22:00 and I felt sharp enough to make the drive, but only at OAP pace, mostly not even crossing 60mph. Somehow we remained passively resigned to missing a first light arrival and didn't get the foot on the gas. Anyway, we arrived at something like 05:20, by which time an amazing number of folk who did the sensible thing of not doing things by halves and got here for the crack - and had therefore seen the bird - were buggering off. Just as the tern had. There was an instant dull feeling of idiocy at having made the effort of an overnight drive but making it pointless by faffing about for a couple of hours before leaving and driving well below the speed limit. I had only myself to blame. I think Liam was too polite to push me, or realised I would have been unresponsive in my dazed auto-pilot night drive mode. Spilt milk and all. However, this definitely classes as possibly my worst mainland dip of all time - titting up the timing of an overnight drive to what is now a local site for me, for a bird needed by all tiers of the twitching community.

I was too drained to properly appreciate the Mediterranean Gulls and Little, Common and Sandwich Terns, or the two Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plover and Ringed Plovers. A Fulmar flew over the crowd and a Cetti's Warbler sang. One of the Meds was a smart 2CY with an adult-type head and bill pattern.

Old Lodge, Gills Lap, Splash Point, Swanbourne Lake, The Burgh and Church Norton

Bob from the States was back and it was a full on day of birding! First up was Old Lodge, with highlights of two Ravens, five Siskins, six Lesser Redpolls and a Bullfinch. A walk around the Old Airstrip produced an early Tree Pipit, two Stonechats and a flock of 20 Siskins. We then drove to Splash Point and marvelled at the hundreds of Kittiwakes, a couple of Fulmars and enjoyed fabulous views of a hunting adult male Peregrine, as well as a Raven on the clifftop. Swanbourne Lake was our next stop, offering up a singing Marsh Tit but little else so we pressed on to The Burgh. Here we instantly connected with four Grey Partridges and a Red Kite. Mid-afternoon we spent an hour or so at Church Norton, rewarded with highlights including a Whimbrel, a Goosander, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose, two Bar-tailed Godwits and small numbers of Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls. Checking in to Ferry Pool on the way out, two Green Sandpipers and seven Wigeon formed last minute additions to the day list.

Whimbrel at Church Norton

Green Sandpipers at Ferry Pool