My blogs of the last couple of days have mysteriously  disappeared!

Not a lot of activity but we have had a few very high tides. The Norton Spit was breached for a few days and these shot were taken Monday...

...but today with an even higher tide the amount of over topping was minimal..,see below

...the Oystercatchers, Dunlin and Grey Plover obviously liked the change of scenery.

Goldeneye in front of hide

Taking off and heading for the Lagoon

Fabulous ducks...drakes actually!

Great Crested Grebe in front of Spit hide.

That's it for today but see my Pagham Beach Blog for details of a program to be shown on BBC South on Monday Jan 18 at 7.30 regarding Pagham Beach and the harbour entrance,.

The morning dawned bright and sunny....but windy, again. A small bird darted across the Lagoon and landed on an overhanging branch...a fair distance from where I was standing...a real little jewel of a bird................

Kingfisher in the early morning sunshine.

What a start to the day...three minutes from my front door!

I headed towards the Spit hide and just sat and admired the many wader flocks moving around the harbour as the tide rose. Nothing unusual but here are a few shots just for the record...

One of the many wader flocks constantly changing position

Mixed flock of Dunlin, Knot and Grey Plover

Closer views as they swept past the hide

Knot and Dunlin 

Grey Plover in foreground 

A pleasant quarter of an hour to start the day! 

Nothing new about BUT.....

...the sun did shine!

So, a chance to get out with the camera with a view to photograph the Goldeneyes on Pagham Lagoon. From time to time during the day there were up to five birds present...three drakes and two females. Here's a few shots.....

Two drakes keep each other company.

 

I put this shot on my Flickr account...'cos I liked it!

...and a duller female

 And a  Mediterranean Gull bathing

 ...jumping up and down in the process.

Apart from that nothing unusual but plenty of Wigeon, Pintail, Teal,Shelduck, Mallard, 900 Brent Geese a few Red Breasted Mergansers, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, a drake Pochard, Redshank, Turnstone, Curlew, Dunlin, Knot, etc. etc.
 Pagham Harbour really does take a bit of beating!
 

Happy New Year and Happy Birding 2016

The start of the year has been abysmal as far as the weather is concerned and as age creeps on I fear I am becoming a 'fair weather' birder. There were a few bright periods today when I was able to walk the Spit to see what was about.
First thing this morning I watched a pair of Peregrines homing in on a Snipe. Again and again one would fly above it and the other would come in at high speed just below the poor bird,  panicking and zig-zagging away, before eventually shaking off both Peregrines...an amazing spectacle!

One of the Peregrines returning after failing to catch its breakfast.

Several Pintail were feeding in the shallows

...and a Great Crested Grebes was on the move..

Morning view towards Chichester cathedral

Same view....late afternoon light.

Along the beach just before sunset...a Turnstone..

Accommodating birds if approached slowly.

...and finally 

Late afternoon rainbow over Pagham Parish Church.

New Years Eve

A brisk wind this morning and a much cooler feel to the day than of late!

Thirteen Mediterranean Gulls on the Lagoon...later in the day there were 31.

...and unusually a drake Shoveler

and a drake Red Breasted Merganser

plus the usual Tufted Ducks (I had a Scaup/Tufted Hybrid on Christmas Eve which was subsequently seen by several observers on Boxing Day causing much discussion, as hybrids always do! )

Red Breasted Mergansers flying up the main channel

Wigeon and a Curlew sheltering from  the wind.

The Church Norton Spit was breached in the night and again this afternoon...

Quite an impressive sea!
See more photos on my Pagham Beach Blog 

...and enjoy your Christmas lunch....Roast Turkey or Worms!