The Famous Five go to Pagham & Medmerry…….. on a windy day.

Our heroes were Nigel, Vicky, George, Christine and Roger. The adventure began with us all meeting up at Pagham RSPB Centre 20 minutes before opening time and an apologetic staff member telling us the men’s loo had a leak so didn’t work. Being nice people they let us use the staff loo and once in the building we took full advantage and raided the coffee machine. Watching the birds on the feeders from the comfort of the Centre was a cosy prelude to facing the elements outside. Before leaving we were invited to take part in the Centre’s survey to discover which duck was best liked between Pintail and Shoveler. Pintail seemed to have the majority of ticks already so kind hearted Roger gave Shoveler his vote. As we left a sign mysteriously instructed us to look out for machines when observing from the Ferry Pool Hide.

Well, you didn’t need a scope to find the machines. The Ferry Pool is being improved for birds and was clearly a work in progress. The only birds interested in checking it out were a small group of Black Headed Gulls. We stayed long enough to watch Chaffinches, Blue & Great Tits, Blackbirds and Robins round the feeders then commenced our short circular route back to the Centre. As soon as we arrived at the outflow stream from the Pool, Roger spotted a colourful Grey Wagtail strutting around on the concrete. This was followed by Vicky finding a close-range Redshank. Moving on we starting seeing the first of quite a few Curlews and Little Egrets.

High tide was due at 1.30 so as soon as we got back to the cars we scurried off to Church Norton to find some waders and sea birds. I had hoped the waders would be so close in their winter plumage that I wouldn’t need my pocket Mike Russell to help us with I.D. but we had possibly been preceded by King Cnut as the tide was still a bit further out than I had envisaged. Nonetheless we did a pretty good job between us and found Grey Plover, Redshank, Curlew, Turnstone and Oystercatchers. There were some Great Crested Grebes and we went on to clock up Shelduck, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard and Teal plus the lovely Brent Geese visiting from northern climes for the winter. Some of the Cormorants were looking a bit uncormorantantlike (another word I have invented) with a lot of white on the breast which showed they were juvenile birds.

A sea watch beckoned and I reminded people to keep an eye out for small birds in the trees, bushes and beach loving plants on the way down. Well, we saw a Robin, The wind ensured anything else kept a pretty low profile. I had thought the windy conditions might have encouraged birds to come closer to the shoreline. Wrong again! I did manage to find a few Gannets which were probably catching fish in French waters. They were certainly little pinpricks on the horizon but gave themselves away by zooming beak first into the water. It is remarkably difficult to show other people tiny little flying dots way out over a huge expanse of ocean.

We retraced our steps to find the tide was coming in pretty quickly and we got much better views of the birds including this striking Curlew.

It takes just one person to mention lunch and a stampede starts. We migrated swiftly to the churchyard and found a seat in what was reputedly the most sheltered spot. A Song Thrush made it to the shelter of a yew tree and Blackbirds, a Wren and a few Starlings crept around in the bushes. At this point Chris got introduced to a new drink. Her coffee was sitting in her flask at home so she risked sharing my cup of Mint Tea which I warned her would not be up to proper Moroccan Mint Tea standards. At least it kept off the frostbite.

I had a quick check around for small birds in the trees before discovering everyone else had disappeared. It turned out they had found the warmth of the chapel. I joined them as they were trying to determine the best strategy to usher out a Great Tit which had got stuck inside. Nothing proved successful so it was decided to leave and keep the door open (a decent enough reason to ignore the sign saying Please Shut The Door), Near the exit to the churchyard Vicky had a touch of bad conscience and went back to shut it but returned happily telling us the Great Tit had got out with no human interference needed.

And just as well we hung about for her. We had an amazing Goldcrest experience. I noticed a small bird in a shrubby/tree but it was well hidden so no-one else could see it. I went closer to point out where I thought it was and a tiny Goldcrest came right out to the edge where I was pointing. It carried on looking for food and came to within 2 inches of the end of my finger. I was so thrilled with the experience I told a random bloke about it when I got to the car park.

We had spent much more time than planned at Church Norton so made straight for Medmerry. The wind was much stronger when we got there. There was also more water than I have seen there before and initially this was good because there were a good number of waterfowl in the channels and on the flooded fields. We looked at a big group of Wigeon, males showing there colourful head stripe, and then noticed some smaller Teal amongst them with a couple of Gadwall. A pair of Egyptian Geese took off showing their broad white patch on their black wings. In the distance, as ever, was a large group of Lapwings who periodically spooked themselves up into the air. Maybe one of a couple of Buzzards we saw may have been the culprits. Mini murmurations of Starlings rose and descended before a really big cloud of birds took to the sky. There was a bit of sun to highlight them displaying gold on one side and white on the other as they turned. Another golden experience, this time Golden Plovers. Watching them, we actually forgot to feel chilly.

Despite the wind a few small birds were fizzing around. Probably some Skylarks but being purists we didn’t list them because they were too far off for positive I.D. Obligingly a little group of Meadow Pipits came and sat on the wire of a fence and some gorgeous Goldfinches were very close drinking from puddles on the path. A Kestrel seemed to be wonderfully happy facing into the wind to hover and look for a snack.

Vicky and George’s 3 o’clock deadline arrived and they had to leave before the final battle to reach the shoreline and look for Sanderlings & Turnstones or a late returning Wheatear on the tideline. The remainder pushed on and were soon noticing a dumpier bird sitting on the fence with a small party of Linnets. One turned into two and became Stonechats. There was expectation of a range of water birds on and around the freshwater pond and scrapes but this time the excessive water was not good and put paid to much chance of waders. A Heron flapped casually across the ubiquitous Canada Geese and among the usual duck species were a pair of Coots. Whoopee! First of the day. At last we got to the sea to scan the beach.

That was something I hadn’t planned for but it was pretty impressive. We were getting showered with spray so didn’t hang around too long. On our long trek back to the car park we did have some joy. A group of Yellowhammers went over, a Chiffchaff called from the depths of a bush and a few Ringed Plovers found enough mud by the flooded area to scurry around looking for worms. End of the day score was 54 species which was a bit short of our usually 70+ for this trip but we all enjoyed ourselves and are no doubt much better for a few hours walk in the bracing coastal air.

Many thanks to George for all the bird photos. I stayed by the just long enough to get that photo.