Having decided it was necessary to buy a few bits at the local shops I decided to walk along the beach the half mile or so instead of getting the car out! It was a superb, warm(ish), sunny morning and I was really glad I did. The usual Turnstones and Redshanks were feeding along the shoreline when I noticed a very pale almost white small wader....a Sanderling. This is unusual for Pagham beach as they usually show a preference for sand rather than pebbles and although common along the coast at Elmer and Clymping I haven't seen one here for several years. Having got the shopping I walked back along another route skirting the Lagoon and was rewarded with 5 Red Breasted Mergansers, a pair of Goldeneye, a Shoveler, a Kingfisher and 20 Mediterranean Gulls. I returned home and, looking out over the beach, noticed that a wheeling flock of Knot were just landing on their high tide roost on the off-shore shingle bank.
This is really not a bad place to live despite the threat of being washed away at some time in the not too distant future. Once again we have been reminded of this fact as we have lost another 2 metres of beach during the high spring tide and southerly wind earlier in the week!
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