23/04/17 Birding in West Sussex with Sara

Sunday 23 April 2017
West Sussex

I spent a delightful day birding in West Sussex with my daughter Sara.  We started at the North Wall, Pagham Harbour, before moving round to the visitors centre and then on to Church Norton.  Our final port of call was RSPB Pulborough Brooks for an afternoon visit.

North Wall

• Bird of the day had to be the lovely Cuckoo we saw from the main path on the North Wall.  We both heard it first, then Sara caught sight of it flying near the trees where we had parked our car.  It then flew west, over the reed bed, stopping off on the bushes to the north of us.  Incredibly, it then flew towards us and landed in the bushes just 30 metres west of us, where it enjoyed a good feed while we enjoyed the truly splendid views. Eventually, it flew off but returned several times to the same area, to further our enjoyment.
• The many Swallows provided the lovely wallpaper to our visit.
• Sedge Warblers were in the reeds, as were Reed Buntings.  Mallards, Coots and Moorhens were on the water.
• Looking south we could see Redshank, Shelduck, Little Egrets and a Grey Heron.

RSPB Visitors Centre

On the Ferry Pool the Shelducks and the Black-tailed Godwits were immediately evident and after a little searching with the aid of the telescope Sara located the Little Ringed Plover at the back of the pool. 

In the channel opposoite, there was a smashing Greenshank alongside a couple of Redshanks.

Church Norton

• At Church Norton we could hear the Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Greenfinches.  

In the harbour, from the bench, we saw several interesting birds.

• Pride of place went to the Whimbrel which was having an altercation with a Curlew as we arrived. This event, however, did give us a first-hand opportunity to see the subtle differences between the two species.
• Not far behind in the pecking order was the sight of a couple of Mediterranean Gulls on the edge of the water, flanked by the more numerous Black-headed Gulls.  Again the opportunity to compare the two species was priceless.
• A couple of Sandwich Terns were also close by.
• Other birds were seen including Oysyercatchers, Cormorants, Herring Gulls and, of course, still more Redshanks. 

We were unable to go to Selsey because the traffic was backed up almost to the RSPB Visitors Centre - a pity because regular reports were coming through of Pomarine Skua's passing Selsey Bill.

RSPB Pulborough Brooks

We made our way to Pulborough Brooks just after lunch, where our luck ran out.  It was the wrong time of day for Nightingales; we neither saw or heard any despite 2 prolonged stays at Fattengates as well as a walk through Adder Alley.

• We did, however, add Sand Martin, Song Thrush, Green Woodpecker, Willow Warbler, Teal, Gadwall, Egyptian Goose, Canada Goose and Greylag Goose to our day list 

Top drawer day!