Autumn has arrived.

 Shorter days, cool mornings and  bright moonlit nights have given a real feeling of Autumn. A few small flocks of Brent Geese have been noted flying west with a few circling the harbour and then flying on to perhaps Chichester Harbour. A single bird flew into the harbour yesterday and appeared to land but I was unable to locate it later. An Osprey was present over the weekend and was seen perched in the middle of the harbour on Monday albeit very distantly.

Wheatears have been present each day and seem to favour the fencing around the old Spit carpark.

Juvenile Linnets have been seen with flocks of up to 20 birds...

A pair of Stonechats have now arrived and are currently occupying a favourite gorse area on the spit.

The North Wall has been interesting especially when the cattle are in the Halsey fields. At least 24 Cattle Egrets have been present and 50 plus Yellow Wagtails very often accompany them.

In the Honer fields, Curlews and Black Tailed Godwits have been accompanied by  a Bar Tailed Godwit

...and  several Ruff

It was good to note a whisp of Snipe fly over Breech Pool earlier in the week...not an every day sight.

Yesterday, a Grey Wagtail turned up at the sluice and was seen again today. 

...and here's the regular 'stunted billed'  Greenshank which often gives visiting birders a bit of head scratching!

 

This morning was a Swallow morning. Hundreds of birds were resting on telephone wires in West Front Road...an annual event at this time!

......so there we have it; Autumn has arrived. 

 

...and the 'regulars' watch on as the seasons progress!