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‘Birding again Mr Goodridge’ I hear you ask. Well, when your appointment is in Pagham Village this afternoon, a visit to Pagham Harbour is always a must. I visited the North Wall area this afternoon and seeing it was a glorious Autumns day, with bright sunshine and fairly warm also, it was a pleasure to be out.
The walk to the harbour wall started off very well with a Kestrel soaring high in the sky and was quickly followed by a Peregrine Falcon circling fairly low down over my head. Raptors didn’t end there with a female Sparrowhawk soaring high over the fields much to the annoyance of a Carrion Crow, which gave chase.
I notched three more month ticks in total with a Reed Bunting seen well chasing a male Stonechat by the reedbed. Viewing from the gate overlooking the harbour, a least three more Reed Buntings were seen and the male Stonechat, a very showy individual, was joined by a second male bird, both still in full summer plumage.
The tide was well out within Pagham Harbour and the creek nearby held good numbers of both Wigeon and Teal. The sun was very bright so it was difficult to view the birds on the mudflats so I carried on walking up to the Breech Pool.
From here, plenty of wildfowl present, mostly Teal and Mallard, but there were a few Shovelers and Shelduck present. At least two Little Grebes were seen on the water with one bird seen out of the water preening itself. Swallows were pouring through and taking a quick drink of water whilst large flocks of Linnet and Meadow Pipit flew overhead. The reedbed held at least three calling Water Rails but the buggers wouldn’t show.
The walk back to the car was fairly quiet but a flock of four Lesser Redpolls was completely unexpected and a welcome addition to my month list. Butterflies were still on the wing with a Clouded Yellow along the footpath (a second one flew into my windscreen on the way back!). Several Speckled Woods and a Peacock were also seen along the footpath. Quite a few dragonflies still around too with a fine male Common Darter showing well perched on a rock in the warm sunshine.
The big bird of the moment is the 1st winter Brown Flycatcher at Flamborough Head, which has been, present all day there! Groan! I’m not keen on faraway twitches when I am driving, so it looks I shall dip on this bird. However, locally, there was a Great Grey Shrike at Farlington Marshes late yesterday afternoon, and today, a Yellow browed Warbler was found at the IBM Lake, Cosham (an old birding ground I use to go to many moons ago). The first returning Black-necked Grebe has been seen today in Langstone Harbour too.
Left, a male Common Darter sunning itself near Pagham Harbour. Right, a male Stonechat near the Breech Pool this afternoon.
