Pagham airport!!

Well, this morning was very similar to an airport...there were arrivals,there were departures and some birds were just in transit.
The arrivals were the Brents coming in off the sea, several small flocks of 20 or so from the Arctic.
6 Grey Herons were dots to start with but they headed for the harbour and eventually landed....from France possibly.

The departures included Swallows flying along the coast before crossing the English Channel on their way to Africa....and a Chiffchaff in our garden tree feeding up on insects before departure.

...and then there was a Black Redstart on the beach side of the bungalow...I dont know whether he was coming or going but it is always good to see a couple at this time of year on the beach.

There were Meadow Pipits and many Pied Wagtails going east today into the wind (it had gone round overnight) and finches everywhere....mostly Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Linnets but also some Siskins.

More surprisingly for Pagham Spit 19 Magpies arrived from the East...stayed a little while in the gorse and then headed off westwards....and then a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over the harbour from Church Norton and continued on its way without stopping.

From the Spit hide there were 15 Little Egrets feeding just in front with a single Grey Heron.

...and all the while a local Kestrel was hovering over the pebbles searching for some morsel for its breakfast.

...a good Autumn morning!

One of many that dropped in

Some of the many Little Egrets in front of the Spit hide

What a size difference!

The hunting Kestrel

The Brents are arriving.

All day yesterday there was skein after skein of Brent Geese arriving off the sea - some coming into the harbour whilst others flew past heading for winter quarters further west. The size of most flocks was abour 20 birds but one larger flock numbered 82....a beautiful sight and sound as they 'chatted' to each other as they arrived!

Todays highlight was a Short Eared Owl flying over the car park and being harassed by a Peregrine...probably an inexperienced young bird, as it soon made off.

A single Wheatear present on the beach and a few Swallows flying west along the beach.

What a bird!! WOW!

After a brief walk around the Spit at 7.30 a.m. I made my way to Burpham to try and find the long staying and very rare, Pallid Harrier. After much searching I met up with a very helpful birder who had been on previous occasions and had got a fairly clear idea of its hunting pattern. However, whilst I was with him him it didn't show and I decided to go on and trace the track he had mentioned. Less than 5 minutes later there it was quartering the fields...at some distance however and hardly photographable. Nevertheless I managed to get a few record shots and the one below is probably the best flight shot....at least it is a record (and a great life tick for me)

The Pallid Harrier at Burpham

Vegetation clearance on Tern Island

Another very warm start to this amazing October weather and today I joined a working party to commence clearance of the vegetation on Tern Island in Pagham Harbour. It was certainly hot work and we kept an eye on the tide to ensure we didn't get marrooned for hours on end! I guess next time (and there will be 3 or 4 sessions during the next few months) it will be considerably cooler...it was almost too hot and after 2 hours we had had enough.
 23 Brent Geese were feeding not too far away and there  was a Black Redstart and a Ring Ouzel in the Church Norton churchyard....alas I didn't see either!

During the afternoon Swallows were flying west along the beach in considerable numbers.

Pagham again....

Just arrived back from 2 weeks in Suffolk and a week in Norfolk....the weather has been too good for much migration but East Anglia never disappoints!

Back at Pagham there were 4 Wheatears on the spit today, 2 Rock Pipits on the tide line and a Chiffchaff in the apple tree. A very high tide produced few opportunities for wader watching as the saltings had  disappeared!

However heres a quick selection of some of the birds seen whilst on holiday.

Lapland Bunting on the dunes at Minsmere

Fiona..the escaped Flamingo now almost resident at Minsmere!

Brent Geese flying past the North Norfolk coast...on their way to Pagham Harbour ?

Bearded Tit at Cley

A particularly attractive Ruff at Titchwell

Egyptian Goose showing off....at Titchwell

Spoonbill at Titchwell

Curlew Sandpiper at Cley

Mostly Knot and Godwits at Holme

I shall put some better ones on my Flickr site when I have more time to trawl through them next week.

An early start along the North Wall

7.15 a.m. this morning alone along the North Wall....mist hanging over the fields...a very 'tame' Lapwing searching for grubs amongst the rocky wall... a single  Great Crested Grebe on the pool and numerous Reed Warblers..Blackcaps and  Whitethroats in the bushes. Nothing unusual and surprisingly no dog walkers for an hour...very pleasant.

...and as I was about to depart the Black Tailed Godwits descended accompanied  by a single Knot  that didn't find the pool to its liking and did not even land

A congregation of Cormorants at high tide in the afternoon from Spit hide ...is there a group name for Cormorants?

Is that a Hovercraft in the Harbour?

An unusual site but its not the first time I've seen one ....I think it is probably the Environment agency taking advantage of a very low tide to take mud samples etc. Can anyone confirm this?

The Red Breasted Merganser is still here and has been throughout the summer

5 Wheatears on the Spit first thing this morning...this one choosing the hide as a lookout

Dunlin...one of many.

The very high spring tide pushed the waders off the islands and some came all along the shoreline in the harbour

A single Knot mingled in  with the Turnstones and Dunlin just next to the hide

...and one of the ever present Turnstones