Blinking cold

The temperature got down to 4 C last night and today was clear with a chilly north west wind. On Monday I usually dedicate to a full day in the field but I decided to just do the morning (considering the non-conducive weather conditions). I started off at Ferry and then went over to East Side, checklist HERE, the highlight being a nice arrival/ accumulation of summer plumaged waders. In total I made it 401 individual waders of 16 species including an influx of Ringed Plover (83), Grey Plover (63), Dunlin (104) and Sanderling (13) which have all arrived in the last day or two. There was also Avocet (26), Oystercatcher (20), Little Ringed Plover (1), Whimbrel (12), Curlew (4), Bar-tailed Godwit (22), Black-tailed Godwit (31), Common Sandpiper (1), Redshank (3), Greenshank (1), Turnstone (5) and Knot (12). 

It's a good time of year now for something rare to get in amongst the waders. The turnover of birds in the harbour at the moment is pretty fast with small waders now dominating after the harbour being full of Whimbrels last week and Barwits before that. What with all the terns in the harbour again this year (the colony is thriving), it's surely got to be just a matter of time before something interesting gets in all this lot. Will keep looking! 

There was absolutely nothing moving off the Bill this morning according to the other guys so presumably the influx of waders in the harbour are staging birds. 

Unsurpisingly the moth trap was crap but perhaps a bit surprisngly was about 10 Treble Lines (the only species that seems to have been able to cope with the conditons)

Ringed Plovers, Dunlins and Sanderling (above and below). The Ringed Plovers are presumably tundrae and the Dunlin schinzii , West African wintering birds now passing through the UK to high latitude breeding areas

Grey Plover, Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit

Bar-tailed Godwits (above) and Ebird data from Pagham Harbour for 2026 showing the small wintering population, a small early spring passage (presumably birds wintering in UK/Europe)  and then a large arrival of Spring birds (arriving from West Africa). In the winter Barwits prefer Chichester Harbour but seemingly prefer Pagham on Spring migration.