Pagham Harbour – January 11th 1998
This was a short trip due to lack of time but one with quite a few good birds. Starting as usual at the Ferry Pond we had seven male and nine female Northern Shoveler, Common Shelduck, Eurasian Curlew, Common Coot, Black-billed Magpie, Eurasian Oystercatcher and Black-headed Gull.
Where The Channel is the tide was almost completely in and the harbour looked like a large lake with small islands and tufts of grass. On these small islands, and flying from them, and on the surrounding water we saw numerous Common Snipe, three Jack Snipe, Little Grebe, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Common Teal, ten Pied Avocets, Dark-bellied Brent Geese, a Red-necked Grebe, three Spotted Redshank and a few Bar-tailed Godwits. Further along the path we added a very close Red-throated Diver and a somewhat lost Black-legged Kittiwake. 250+ Black-tailed Godwits could be seen feeding in the distance on what mud was exposed.
The nearby bushes, adjoing the footpath and fields, held Sky Lark, Common Reed-Bunting and a wintering Dartford Warbler.