Pagham Harbour and The Burgh with the Ashdown Bird Group

 Sunday 11th February 2024

Pagham Harbour

8 of us visited Pagham Harbour this morning where we we managed a very respectable 59 species. Conditions were really good with dry, overcast and mild weather throughout.

• Star of the show was the Long-tailed Duck that we saw right at the start on the Ferry Pool.  It was stationary in the water for most of the time as the other regular species went about their business.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

At Church Norton we saw a good selection of waders in the distance.

• Knot, Ringed Plover and Dunlin, all of which were new to me this year, were showing well.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• We also saw about 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, a difficult bird to see in Sussex.

We moved round to the mouth of the harbour

•  Here we saw 2 Eider Ducks - a male and a female swimming in the channel opposite us - with the mother and child completely oblivious to the events unfolding in front of them .........

Courtesy of Alison Playle

•  ..... and a lovely Mediterranean Gull on the sea; this bird was ringed in Belgium. 

Courtesy of Phillip Aylen

• It was nice to hear the Skylarks singing. 
• We were unable to see any of the 5 Long-tailed Ducks that had been reported on the sea earlier but we did see several Red-breasted Mergansers in the harbour.

The Burgh

After a well-earned lunch back at the Visitor Centre we relocated to the Arundel area and the high ground of The Burgh where we saw 26 species during a very enjoyable couple of hours.

• Red Kites were everywhere, of course.  We must have seen at least 20, some distant and a few very close.

Courtesy of Alison Playle

• We were fortunate to see several Grey Partridge along the edges of the fields.

Courtesy of Alison Playle

• Also seen were 3 Red-legged Partridges.
• We witnessed an altercation, high in the sky, between a couple of Peregrines and a Buzzard - needless to say the Peregrines triumphed. 
• The only new addition to my year list was a Mistle Thrush that we saw in the middle of a tree at the side of the track we were on.
• The day ended spectacularly when we saw a ringtail Hen Harrier flying in the valley below us.

71 species seen today - a fair reflection of our great day out.

2024 species count=115