Autumn is on the way!

A north east wind has got up overnight and a few waders were found along the beach this morning....some of them in breeding plumage. There were a few 'tortoiseshell' Turnstones but the one below was not one of them!
However, unusually for Pagham, there was a lone Sanderling - a bird  which normally prefers a sandy beach as at nearby Clymping.

Sand Martins, Swallows and a few Swifts were trickling westwards.

Turnstone

Sanderling

 ...and for the botanists a couple of shots of the very rare Childing Pink taken in our beach garden .


 There are only three known populations occurring in southern England, at Sinah Common SSSI (Site
of Special Scientific Interest) on Hayling Island, at Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex (an
undesignated site) and at Pagham Harbour LNR (Local Nature Reserve).

These flowers have been seen in our garden for the past 26 years....some years more than others but we always feel very priveleged  when we see them in flower. They are very tiny and have to be really looked for as the flower heads are only about 2-3 mm across. On the lower photo a greenfly can be seen which gives an indication of size!

Childing Pink with Greenfly (left click)