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Pagham Birder: The Blog

A regular account of the birds seen mainly on and around Pagham Spit, the Lagoon and the North Wall plus other birding exploits from time to time.
Any news of interest regarding the ongoing erosion problems on Pagham Beach will, from now on, be shown on my other blog together with general beach photos.. Click on the link... Pagham Beach Blog on this page.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

An interesting morning!

A walk around the harbour early this morning proved particularly rewarding as I stumbled on a bird which proved to be an Aquatic Warbler but it wasn't until I returned home that I  realised my good fortune...

The bird suddenly appeared in a bush adjacent to Owl Point in Pagham Harbour at 8.30 this morning near to where I had just located a Whinchat which had moved on from its spot and I had wrongly assumed this was the same bird. It was perched high on a bush in typical Whinchat fashion and as I  was looking at it against the light  it was difficult to see the distinctive markings on the back. The original photographs on the camera screen looked poor and not until I had processed then on the computer did I realise this was not a Whinchat!  Initially I thought it was just another Sedge Warbler but then I realised this was something 'different'. I couldn't get a reply from the local birders who I knew would confirm ID and it wasn't until the evening that I received confirmation...as it happens, the 200th bird for the Selsey Peninsular this year, so I'm told!
Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

 Here are few of my pics...
Aquatic Warbler..usually a skulking bird!





Rear view...showing the pointed tail feathers

Wow...what a bird!


 It was a good morning for warblers and a couple of Garden Warblers showed up not too far away..






Whitethroats were showing along the hedgerows....

Goldfinch flocks were feeding on the weed seeds and this Greypate was particularly obliging...


A large flock of waders suddenly took off from the Breech pool on my return but I could not see the cause of the disturbance....

 Redshanks and a Spotted Redshank

Black Tailed Godwits

Lapwings


Serenity at the sluice gate.

A superb morning walk around the harbour and what a fortunate find!



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