28th July 2019 - Pagham Harbour and RSPB Medmerry

Sophie and I met Mum and Dad at Church Norton mid-morning. We had a good scan of the harbour on a dropping tide but it failed to produce much after what was quite a spectacular day for waders the day before across much of the UK. Highlights from Church Norton included a juvenile Marsh Harrier, two Whimbrel, 22 Curlew, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 50 Dunlin, 3 Little Terns, a Kestrel, a pair of Great Crested Grebes, 10 Turnstones as well as a trickle of Sand Martins and Swallows.

Afterwards, Sophie and I left to go to Medmerry to go and have a look for the Spoonbill which upon arrival was showing nicely just to the east of the Breach. As the tide was still quite high there was still a fair number of gulls around and the pick of the bunch was six Yellow-legged Gulls (1 adult and 5 juveniles). Also noted were a Corn Bunting, seven Curlew, two Little Egrets and a Whimbrel.

Spoonbill, RSPB Medmerry, West Sussex

Next stop was Grandma's where we met up again with Mum and Dad and all enjoyed a chat and some cake. After our stop, Sophie and I headed off to the North Wall where we were pleased to find the two Cattle Egrets opposite Owl Copse along with two Little Egrets and six Grey Herons. Out in the middle of the harbour were 104 Mediterranean Gulls. On our way back to the car we had a scan of White's Creek and this produced a Greenshank, 26 Black-tailed Godwits, 11 Redshank, a Whimbrel, two Oystercatchers, three Mute Swans, three Curlew and a further 22 Mediterranean Gulls including 2 juveniles.

Two Cattle Egrets and Grey Heron, Pagham Harbour North Wall, West Sussex