Friday 4th September - Pagham

First week of September should be a great time of year for catching up with  returning migrants and bumping into something rarer. however, many factors are involved in where birds turn up and when, which can be weather related , not just here but elsewhere. Today can be best described as benign for both birds and weather.

I had to drop Hannah early at school in Petersfield so afterwards headed down to Pagham, The wind if anything was a slightly northerly, so I avoided Selsey and drove to the now RSPB visitor centre at Pagham, choosing to walk a circuit of the West side of the harbour up to Church Norton, the beach and back.

The scrub near the visitor centre held a common range of migrant passerines with plenty of Whitethroat and Blackcap and Chiffchaff and a Tree Pipit flew over calling. The harbour on a falling tide held  Curlew, Whimbrel a single Bar-tailed Godwit and single Greenshank plenty of Redshank and a Kingfisher flew past. The Ferry pool was quite empty with a a single Green Sandpiper and 4 Avocet a group of 7 Yellow Wagtail took off from the cows behind the ferry heading South.

A large flock of c100 House Martin and Swallow moved though in an easterly direction. A Garden Warbler and 2 Spotted Flycatchers in hedge gave me hope that better was to be found .A slow walk up the West side of harbour turned out to be very quiet,  with 1 Wheatear on the salt marsh, a Cettis Warbler and  Knot, Dunlin and Ringed Plover in the harbour , 3 Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk appeared and  more Whitethroat and Blackcap were fairly common with 2 more Spotted Flycatchers around the hide and several Willow Warbler in the churchyard, but the morning lacked anything more exciting.

Garden Warbler