Ospreys, Whinchats and Merlin at RSPB Medmerry near Chichester

15th September 2024

What a cracking trip out to West Sussex today.  8 of us enjoyed one of our best birding days of the year, with over 60 species seen, including some really special ones.  

Pride of place was shared on this occasion:-

• Ospreys are one of my favourite birds and today we saw at least 2, initially in the distance, but later on flying overhead.  What a magnificent sight they are, especially here in Sussex where they do not breed - we only get to see them arriving in the spring or departing the country in the autumn.

Courtesy of Andrew Burns

• Its not very often we see a Merlin but today was one of those halcyon days when one was on site.  Earlier reports suggested that one was to be seen perched on a post close to the Stilt Pool where we were headed.  We went one better when Mark spotted the bird flying towards us and we were all able to get superb views as it whizzed by. 

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

It was all over in a few seconds but the experience will live in our memories for a long time.  Incredibly Phil found time to get a photograph.

• As the saying goes "you wait ages for a bus then 2 come along at the same time" works with birding too.  On Friday, at Oare Marshes in Kent I saw my first whinchats of the year and today we saw at least 2 more. They were showing well in the bushes close to the fence line about 50 metres away but the heat haze caused problems for the photographers.  We also saw yellowhammers, linnets and stonechats in the same place.

Hirundines were flying around us continuously as we made our way around the reserve.

·    They were mainly swallows but there were several house martins and a smattering of sand martins at times.

 

There was a good selection of birds at the Stilt Pools.

·    Star wader, for me, was undoubtedly the greenshank which was moving along the edges of the pool and putting on a really good show for us, as shown in Phil’s photographs.

 

·         This common sandpiper wasn’t bad too.

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

·   There were also two knot showing briefly at the Stilt Pools before they were scattered by a marauding raptor.

 

We made a brief stop by the sea where most of the group had lunch while the remainder headed back to the car park for theirs.

·   At least two sandwich terns patrolled over the shoreline.

 

Courtesy of Andrew Burns

Other interesting bird sightings included:-

·         At least 4 kingfishers were seen today, 2 at Medmerry and 2 more at Pagham Harbour.

·         This lovely hobby was seen quite early on near the Easton Viewpoint.

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

•  There was a lengthy debate as to whether the raptor shown below was a honey buzzard.  In the end, after seeking expert guidance, it was agreed it was a common buzzard.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

•  A Dartford warbler was seen briefly at the start of our walk before it was scared off by a family picking blackberries.

• We saw several kestrels, at least one sparrowhawk and a raven today.

We visited the Ferry Pool and surrounding area after lunch and found a number of interesting birds:-

• As well as the regular mix of avocets, black-tailed godwits, lapwings, shovelers and teal there was a green sandpiper.
•  In the nearby channel there was a kingfisher alongside the mallards and redshanks. 
•  Some members also witnessed an unsuccessful attack by a sparrowhawk on a grey wagtail.

Finally we drove round to Church Norton where we added to our noteworthy findings:- 

• It was low tide so there were birds on the mud looking for food.  Among them were a whimbrel and a curlew that had just flown in together and landed some 30 metres in front of us to provide the perfect opportunity to compare and contrast the key ID features.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• There was another discussion as to whether a distant plover was of the grey or the   golden variety.  This time we could not reach an agreement so we took the majority decision that we were looking at a grey plover!
• As we headed back to the car park,via the churchyard, the best we could see was a chiffchaff/willow warbler flitting around in the trees forming the hedge.  There was no sign of the wryneck that had been reported earlier in the day. 

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

Several members of the group had never visited Medmerry RSPB before so this was a memorable introduction for them with so much going on. 

 

It was a good decision to start here, as the long walk down to the Stilt Pools might appear too daunting had we left it to the final session.

 

 2024 species count=202