Sixteen members met at RSPB Pagham Harbour for the walk out to Church Norton. In the car park, House Martins flew over constantly, House Sparrows congregated in the bushes and there were the usual Blue and Great Tits and Chaffinches on the feeders.
The Ferry Pool was unusually quiet on this occasion, with four Black Tailed Godwits and some Teal on view. Perhaps the low numbers of birds were due to the recent work re-shaping the pools and scrapes?
Looking back along the Ferry Pool channel we saw our first Redshank of the day, a Moorhen and some Mallard along the bank. Whilst watching this we could see a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel circling above. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker flew from a nearby tree and a flock of Linnet took to the air.
At the next viewpoint there were more Redshank and a Common Sandpiper. One or two Curlew were spotted in the grass. The cry went up “Kingfisher” and most of the group got a fleeting glimpse of a flash of blue flying low over the water and vegetation.
On the path out to Church Norton we began to see a few Great Crested Grebe in the channel. Little Egrets were active and flying around and from time to time Chiffchaff and a solitary Common Whitethroat were seen in the bushes beside the path. Three Marsh Harrier put on a wonderful display at quite close quarters. There was little of note in the field behind the hide apart from a Green Woodpecker and some Peacock butterflies on the wing.
As we neared the harbour the tide was already fairly high. There was a collection of waders including Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Grey Plover and Dunlin. We stayed to have lunch here and then cut through by the Church where again we were given the chance to compare raptors with a Buzzard, a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel circling round together high in the sky. Walking on, we took a path through farmland and woodland towards the beach. Here two Raven were seen and heard ‘cronking’ overhead.
Once on the beach the sea was very quiet but seawatching revealed some Cormorant out fishing. We continued walking by the Severalls where three Stonechat perched on fence posts. A Clouded Yellow butterfly put in a brief appearance before doing a disappearing act in the gravel of the beach.
Back at the harbour again we counted three Spoonbill and five Little Egret on Tern Island. Two Wheatear were on the concrete slabs and around 150 Linnets flew around from island to island.
Making our way back to the Visitors Centre we saw a large mixed flock of Blue Tit and Long Tailed Tit with numerous Chiffchaff amongst them.
On returning to Ferry Pool, Green Sandpiper and Lapwing were added to the list. The feeders were quiet but a Greenfinch sat in one of the trees above.
Throughout the day we had heard two birds-a Cetti’s Warbler singing and a Pheasant calling, making a respectable total of 57 species for the day. It had been a very pleasant day in sunny weather with a chilly breeze at times.