The last few days...update

A forecast of sun all day tempted me to visit Pulborough Brooks and Arundel this morning. The Autumn colours were astounding and  a male Marsh Harrier quartering the reed beds and viewable from Winpenny hide just complemented the Autumn colours showing his gloriously russet underwings to perfection in the early morning sunshine.

He was quite distant but even these crops give an idea of the sheer beauty of this magnificent raptor.

I dropped down to the WWT at Arundel and found two Kingfishers. Whilst  I was watching them they spent most of the time flying from one spot to another and only once did one of them approach the hide and perch for a few moments, just about within reach of the lens. Again a big crop...not ideal but a record!

A Little Egret was a little more obliging.

 Is he choking on a very small fish?

Earlier in the week I had been staying on my own patch and here are just a few photos from Pagham Spit and the North Wall.

A Heron fishing from the revetment on the beach.

A Mute swan over the Lagoon.

One of many Meadow Pipits which have been dropping in during the first few hours of daylight.

This Stonechat has been around on the Spit for the past week.

Golden Plover have returned and are mingling with the Lapwings in the harbour.

This relatively 'tame' Curlew is usually found along the edge of the North Wall and there are regularly two kingfishers by the sluice gates. Spotted Redshanks are regulars in Whites Creek and several Bearded Tits have been noted in the reedbed...very elusive and keeping well down for most of the time.
A pair of Black Redstarts have been seen on the roof of Pagham Parish Church, so well worth keeping an eye out for then. According to my diary the next two weeks is the prime time for Black Redstarts on Pagham Beach. I had a late Wheatear in the garden yesterday and two Swallows were resting on the telephone wires whilst earlier last week we had 20 House Martins feeding on the flies over the revetment. A Short Eared Owl was disturbed one early morning along the beach. 

Another regular by the sluice gates.