The seemingly never-ending stream of fabulous SDOS outings continues, with a trip to Pagham and Church Norton proving very fruitful.
SDOS Chair, Jenny Holter, fills us in on the brilliant day….
24 members met at Pagham, some travelling on the minibus and others making their own way. We gathered at Ferry Pool in gloomy conditions and were pleased to shelter there during a shower. Here we found Lapwings, Teal and Shelduck, together with singles of Snipe and Shoveler.
On the small pool by the feeders outside the hide a lovely Grey Wagtail was foraging around the margins.
In the creek a few Redshanks and Little Egret were active and a Little Grebe swam in the channel. Following the track towards Church Norton we had a nice mix of passerines, including Blackcap, Reed Bunting, Stonechat and Linnet. Goldfinches and Meadow Pipits passed overhead.
We paused at the benches beside the track where small groups of Redshank flew along the channel and Curlew rested on the mudbanks and saltmarsh. The weather had now transformed and in glorious sunshine we had superb scope views of these beautiful waders. An Avocet flew in, but unfortunately wandered into a dip in the channel before many had a chance to look through the scopes, and unfortunately did not reappear.
Looking towards North Wall, Dave spotted a Marsh Harrier, which put up flocks of Teal, Lapwing and grey Plover.
Further along the track Maria managed a superb shot of a Brambling, a winter migrant species that is just beginning to appear around the country. I was disappointed not to see that one!
We ate our lunch at Church Norton, looking out across the harbour. Here we added to the wader mix, finding Oystercatcher, Whimbrel, Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot and Grey Plover, some still in spectacular summer plumage. Some also saw Turnstone, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. In general wader numbers were disappointing compared to some trips, but the variety of species found was excellent.
Wigeon and Pintail in eclipse plumage were in the harbour and Peregrine, Maysh Harrier Kestrel and Hobby were all seen chasing across. A Kingfisher put on a superb performance in the shallows behind us hovering and dashing low and fast across the water whilst calling loudly.
With high tide approaching, we left the viewpoint here and retraced our steps to the visitor centre where we enjoyed a chat and cup of tea before boarding the bus or cars and heading for home.
It had been an excellent day with good company and great birding. We finished with a total of 65 species seen across the group. Many thanks to everyone who came along, and especially to Ian for driving and Dave for leading. We had a number of superb photographers joining us, so look out for their photos either shared here or on the Shoreham Birding Facebook site.
Birds photos: Maria McGrath
Group Photo: Chris McGrath