The ever present Kestrel!

The horse paddock adjacent to the sluice gate at Pagham harbour has hosted a Kestrel for weeks and as this morning was devoid of many 'photographable' birds I took the opportunity of featuring an 'exclusive' on this much watched and admired bird.
She returned to the same spot time and time again after pouncing on some very small prey on the ground in the field. Her powers of concentration were amazing as she seemed totally oblivious of anything else nearby.
Watching for a minute or so and then suddenly pouncing from her favoured perch....

 ...grabbing what she could and returning to her perch.

Time and time again....and she's been doing this for weeks!

One amazing bird!

Marsh Harriers!

A bright morning with a fresh wind on the North Wall this morning. 

The immediate highlight was a Marsh Harrier flying to and fro beyond the Breech Pool (with Chichester cathedral as a backdrop).

It was soon joined by another playing chase over the reed bed.

 Great to see!

A splendid Grey Wagtail was feeding in the horse paddock...a fantastic splash of colour!

The fields in front of Halsey Farm were awash with water and had attracted about 5/600 Black Tailed Godwits and probably a 1000+ Lapwings.
 

 A huge flock of Brent Geese moved from field to field ....2000+

 Later at the harbour entrance a couple of Red Breasted Mergansers swimming in the choppy current.
Yesterday there were two Goldeneye but no sign today.

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My normal regular visits to the North Wall have been curtailed recently as the weather has been so awful! From the regular reports there has been little of interest of note but today was bright, the wind had subsided and the forecast for the weekend was again an atrocious one so it was an opportunity to get out! 
The horse field was a bit of a 'thrush fest' with Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Redwings  feeding in good numbers.

The regular Kestrel was giving a good photographic opportunity so it was good to have a subject on which to concentrate.

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As I returned along Church Lane another, or the same bird was on the power line. 

Apart from a large Lapwing flock and plenty of Wigeon it was very quiet...here's a male in flight.

Back on the beach there was a decent flock of Mediterranean Gulls. Some were getting into summer plumage...a very encouraging sign.

Hopefully, once Storm Dennis is out the way we can look forward to some reasonable weather and some good birds!