Sussex Scrapbook
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Nature walks throughout the year
Saturday 21st March 2009
Pagham Harbour
8.5 miles
It's been a week of
uncommonly good weather with lots of sunshine and the migrant birds are
beginning to return. Swallows, Sand martins and Chiffchaffs are already being
seen and the Ospreys have started their move back from their winter quarters. To
take advantage of the beautiful spring weather we shot down to Pagham Harbour
which is 6 miles from Chichester Harbour on the eastern side of Selsey Bill.
Most of this area is a nature reserve and it is teeming with life and so all
dogs must be kept on a lead at all times.
Today we saw
45 bird species, almost the first of these was a Water Rail that was
feeding right out in the open. These long-legged wading birds are normally heard
rather than seen as they like to remain skulking in the reeds. There were quite
a few Buzzards and Kestrels soaring about during the day and Gill also pointed
out two Peregrine Falcons patrolling overhead.
At the Breech Pool, where we sat for about an hour, we saw:
Jack Snipe,
Black-Tailed Godwit, Little Grebes, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler,
Reed Bunting and we heard a
Cetti's Warbler. We never got to see the
Garganey that had been spotted there by other people though.
Sand Martins have already been seen here over the past few days, but
unfortunately not by us. We did however see our first Peacock Butterfly of the
year, which was already looking quite battered. There's a lot of insect life on
the wing now, including all sorts of bumblebee, ladybirds, midges and flies.
From the hide out on Pagham Spit we saw yet another Peregrine, this one was
sitting on the waters edge just looking around. After finishing our sandwiches
there we set off past the lagoon to Pagham village for tea and Eccles cake and a
quick visit to the church.
This walk is very simple to do as you can walk all the way around the edge of
the harbour although it can be soft going. There are also footpaths and
permissive paths to use when the tide is right in.
Water Rail - braving it, out in the open.
The tide was out when we arrived and it stayed out all day.......?
The coconut perfume of the Gorse flowers mixed with the salty sea air flavoured
our walk.
The last
time we were at Sidlesham Quay it was completely underwater
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)
