Things tend to go very quiet at this time of year and I have to travel quite a bit to see any new birds for my 2024 Year List. On 3 out of 4 occasions I had to head west to Pagham Harbour, near Chichester - a round trip of over 100 miles each time.
Friday 7th June 2024 - Pagham Harbour East, Sussex
An American Golden Plover was reported on Wednesday and, after initially resisting the urge to twitch this bird, I finally succumbed and made the trip. I joined a group of 5 birders who were looking for it at low tide, along the channel near White's Creek. After a few minutes I found it in the scope and alerted the others. It was very distant and was associating with the Grey Plovers.
Friday 14th June 2024 - Ferry Pool, Pagham Harbour, Sussex
A week later I made the same trip, this time to the Visitor Centre and the Ferry Hide to see a very close Wood Sandpiper.
Monday 1st July 2024 - Ferry Pool, Pagham Harbour, Sussex
The Spotted Redshanks proved more problematic. Initial attempts were unsuccessful - each time I arrived too late, the birds having left earlier. Today however I arrived at 06.00 and found both birds, in breeding plumage, showing very well, close to the hide
Tuesday 25th June 2024 Weir Wood Reservoir, Sussex
If all the above were out-and-out twitches, this one certainly was not. After completing my weekly snake survey I was walking back through the woods to the car park when I met up with 4 of the other volunteers. They were looking for a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker that Ian had seen near the top of a nearby tree. Quite soon we got a sighting - of two birds, probably juveniles, in the canopy. When they took flight we got a clear view of both of them. What a bonus - right here in our own back yard!
2024 species count=188
