More Cattle Egrets

Up early and arrived on the North Wall at 7.00am. The fields behind the breech Pool and in front of Halsey farm were more flooded than ever.

 As soon as I started walking along the 'wall' I could see there were egrets in the distant bushes.

Once close enough to Owl Copse I noted twenty five Cattle Egrets.... an all time record (for me). Seventeen were preening in the bushes whilst a further six were feeding in the field.








The one at the top right of above is moving into breeding plumage.

Whilst watching with Ian H they tended to change position between their preening spots in the hawthorn to their feeding position on the ground.

A great spectacle and worth the early start.

The Grey Herons are now very active nest building!

Black Tailed Godwits are still present in considerable numbers making full use of the flooded fields. 

The usual confiding Curlew was still present  foraging just below the pathway.

Back on the Pagham spit later there was little of interest. The wind had got up again and these Turnstones were seeking shelter in the Little Lagoon...but not much else.

Cattle Egrets galore!

The North Wall area  was alive with waders and ducks this morning  and the Honer fields were again flooded and, at the top of the second field, seventeen Cattle Egrets were feeding/preening. Too distant for a good photograph but here is a record shot of some of them.



Moving on to Owl copse a further six Cattle Egret were visible bringing the total to twenty three.




The bird on the bottom left was beginning to show signs of his breeding plumage.

Preening

 The fields were teeming with Black Tailed Godwits and Wigeon constantly on the move.

Back on Pagham Spit on the look out for my first Wheatear of the season there were just fifty three Brent Geese (just one bird was seen earlier from the North Wall)...alas no sign of a Wheatear.

  Have the majority of the geese moved back to summer quarters?   
  I guess so.

Late afternoon visit to the North Wall

After the terrible weather of yesterday (heavy rain ALL day) it was a joy to see the sun today! 
A visit to the North Wall was a 'must' and it was rewarded with a few  late afternoon shots ....nothing unusual but I was hoping to obtain some better views of the barn owl. As it happened the owl was quartering the very distant reed bed and eventually landed on a gate in front of Halsey Farm...far too far away for anything other than a record shot.




A little more obliging was a Grey Wagtail which alighted briefly on a fence post before flying off across the harbour.

A large flock of Black Tailed Godwits were still present and moving from field to field.

 A distant Marsh Harrier showed up in the distant trees behind the Breech Pool and was later joined by a second bird.

A Cormorant posed on a rock just below the sluice gate ... 

...and a Spotted Redshank was feeding along the foreshore in Whites Creek



...and here's a common Redshank for comparison.

The ever present kestrel was on her favourite perch !!!

A pleasant hour!

Barn Owl at last!

The morning was bright and sunny and I was tempted out  to have a short walk along the North Wall but time was strictly limited. Initially I thought it was very quiet birdwise but as I strolled along with Ian I listening to a couple of Cettis Warblers and watching a few Chiffchaffs I noticed this flock of Black Tailed Godwits wheeling to and fro across the Halsey fields catching the light and looking absolutely stunning!

Eventually they came closer ...

...and eventually landed on the mud

..and began feeding...a few beginning to gain the summer plumage. 

Then this 'bird' arrived...maybe of interest to someone.

This is apparently a Pilatus 12-12/47E 11 seater fixed wing single engine turbo prop  built in 2011.I only know this as the registration  LX JFC can be seen in the original  and Google gave me the details.It flew over the harbour and looked a little unusual.

Returning to the sluice gate I met Andrzej and we both attempted to photograph an obliging Great Crested Grebe

..but looking down at a bird is never a good way to obtain a decent photo. It was nigh impossible to get down to be on a level with the bird.  

Interestingly it appeared to be catching prawns.

Then just as I said my 'good byes' I noticed the Barn Owl quartering the reed bed at quite some distance but as I approached along the footpath behind the stables the owl came closer.

A fine end to a brief visit

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!