What a blow....but all is not lost!

With a Force 8 blowing along the beach and torrential rain it was pretty obvious the day was going to be a non starter as far as birding was concerned. An occasional look out the window to see if any Brents were arriving (I have a diary note from last year that this was my first day for Brents last year) all I saw were a few bedraggled Swallows fighting against the wind.

At 2.30p.m. the rain stopped and as I needed fresh air I fancied a walk, or a battle against the wind to the Spit hide. I had only gone 50yds when a small bird flitted across the Lagoon and disappeared. I hung on and as I tried to steady my bins a Pied Flycatcher flew from a bramble for a fly. Naturally I was totally unprepared so returned home to collect the camera gear and returned to the spot in hope.

After 10 minutes there it was....great, but the branch was waggling up and down  (as they do in a Force 8! ) The bird was trying to balance, hence a series of rather unusual postures.

Pied Flycatcher balancing act.

....Plus a couple of different shots on Flickr. This is a nice bird for Pagham Spit so I was pleased I had made the effort to get out the house!