Birds and Dragonflies. RSPB Pagham Harbour 24.09.22 (pm) & 26.09.22 (am)

I went to RSPB Pagham Harbour, a place I have visited many times before, by train and bus on the afternoon of Saturday 24.09.22 and the morning of Monday 26.09.22. I took the train from Brighton to Chichester (55 minutes, two trains an hour), and then picked up the 51 bus at Chichester bus station (next to the rail station) to RSPB Pagham Harbour - stops outside (25 minutes, three buses an hour in winter) 51 Bus Route & Timetable: Chichester - Selsey | Stagecoach (stagecoachbus.com)

On Saturday when I arrived I heard that a Bea-eater had just been seen on the Ferry Channel, so I immediately walked to where it half been seen; but it had gone, I then walked on with two RSPB Rangers to the Severals - the pools beyond Church Norton (south side of the reserve) - where a Wryneck had been seen. I didn't see the Wryneck. However, on my return to the Ferry Pool I did see a Glossy Ibis and a Spotted Flycatcher. I only had time to visit the south of the harbour.

On Monday afternoon I returned to RSPB Pagham Harbour to visit the north side, specifically to visit the North Wall, where I had seen Cattle Egrets on my last visit a week ago. The were no Cattle Egrets, and the tide was very high, so there were few waders around, except in the non-tidal pools (Breach Pool)north of the North Wall and the Ferry Pool. I saw a king fisher catching fish from a pool, and lots of dragonflies, Black-Tailed Godwits and Lapwings.

Birds seen:

Saturday 24.09.22:

Curlew, Dunlin, Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Little Egrets, Grey Herons, Mallards, Black-Tailed Godwits, Glossy Ibis, Spotted Flycatcher, House Sparrows, Rooks, Magpies, Wood Pigeons, Black-Headed Gulls

Tuesday 26.09.22

Greenfinch, Lapwings, Brent Goose, Curlew, Kestrel, Redshanks,, Little Egrets, Grey Herons, Cormorants, Mallards, Shelducks, Black-Tailed Godwits, Lapwings, Sedge Warbler, House Sparrows, Rooks, Magpies, Wood Pigeons, Black-Headed Gulls

Map from: pagham-map.pdf (rspb.org.uk)

Saturday 24.09.22

Church Norton

Beefsteak Fungus

Common Toadflax

Beach at Church Norton

Curlew

Curlew and Dunlin

Redshank

Redshank and Oystercatcher

Little Egrets and Oystercatcher

Sea Thrift

Grey Heron

Sidelsham Quay

Sea Aster

Common Carder Bumblebee on Saa Aster

Mallards

Redshank

Redshank and Little Egret

Ferry Pool

Black-Tailed Godwits

Glossy Ibis

Spotted Flycatcher

Monday 26October 2022

Speckled Wood

Greenfinch

Small White

Ferry Pool - Lapwing

Brent Goose; this Goose has apparently been in the Ferry Pool all year and did not return to Siberia for the winter

Curlews

Redshanks

Curlew

Common Darter Dragonfly

Emperor Dragonfly

Towards Sidelsham Quay

Kestrel

Grey Heron, Little Egret and Cormorant - Owl Copse

Grey Heron

From the North Wall

Cormorants

Grey Heron

Cormorant

Black-Tailed Godwits - beach pool, north of the North Wall; the tide was so high there were few wader in the main part of the Harbour; the breach pool is non-tidal, so the water levels were lower