BOC trip to Pagham, 8th January 2017
A 9.30 start at Pagham in early January is a real test of enthusiasm, but 11 of us were at the rendezvous near Pagham Church well before time. I always enjoy the village side of the harbour early in the year: it never fails to produce a spectacle. The always-threatening drizzle held off and the birds performed very well.
We spent the morning along the eastern side, a little disappointed by the lack of small birds in the scrub, but completely fascinated by the crowds of wildfowl and waders out on the mud as the tide dropped. Brent Geese were in big numbers, with occasional large flocks right overhead. A great many Shelduck dotted the scene, with Teal, Wigeon, Mallard and elegant Pintails in the gullies.
In many ways, though, this was ‘wader day’, since we enjoyed large numbers of them at great leisure, with the opportunity to concentrate on comparisons and identification details. In all we noted some 14 species of wader, including Knot, Spotted Redshank and Greenshank.
The village lagoon held a female Goldeneye, a couple of Pochards and some Little Grebes, but the big moment of the day came when we reached the shingle ridge above the beach. As we scanned a calm but misty sea, Gray spotted a distant trio of small grebes. This is a hot-spot for Slavonians, and while this trio was a bit unconvincing for some, the flock of twelve that I found just over the harbour bar was much more viewable. As the group absorbed that sight, I found four more fishing in the channel exit at the surf line. Like many birders I am usually happy to see the odd one or two a year, so that was an exceptional experience for us all.
With a Stonechat in a bush behind the beach, and a distant Ringed Plover added to our tally, we walked back to the cars for lunch and then spent an hour or so checking out the area from the North Wall. A Kingfisher is often seen near the sluice, and one performed to order. With waders and wildfowl still dominating the harbour mud, we scoured the inland meadows, bushes and scrub. Most unusually there were few raptors and no owls. We found just two Buzzards, but that search drew our attention to just how many Curlews and Black-tailed Godwits were feeding in the damp spots of the rough meadows inland.
On the way home we took a short diversion to Warblington, to look for Cattle Egrets. The first people to arrive had views of one, but that flew off before the last two cars arrived. Three Little Egrets raised hopes, but were little consolation. This has been an exceptional winter for sightings of a species which may be on the cusp of joining Little Egret, Spoonbill and Great Egret as regulars here.
Ray Reedman, January 2017