22nd - 24th October 2024

Thursday, 24th October: A cool start but soon becoming a dry, fine and sunny autumn day with a moderate SSE breeze force 3-4.

Climping – Atherington: An old birding friend of mine - Bernie Forbes - came over this morning to join me, (I should mention here that our friendship goes back 51 years!) We set off at a leisurely pace, our first target being to check for migrants around the Bailiffscourt area. Woodpigeons were again going through in good numbers though no count was attempted as we were soon inside the woods looking for much smaller birds! Our joint efforts produced a tally of five Chiffchaffs, three Blackcaps, two Firecrests, two Goldcrests, four Song Thrushes, 15 Blackbirds, three Meadow Pipits, a couple of Skylarks, an unseen Siskin or two that went over calling, 20 Long-tailed Tits in two flocks and a Sparrowhawk.

We then left this local patch to head to our next venue, which was at Pagham Harbour. However, en route, we chalked up a notable success by successfully managing, without incident, to negotiate a first for both of us – purchasing a drive-through coffee! No stopping us now.

Wednesday, 23rd October: A morning of frequent and sometimes heavy showers, lasting until well after noon, before the sun finally broke through to give a pleasant sunny afternoon with a fairly light W/SW breeze, 2-3.

Climping - Atherington: The persistent showers went on far longer than was forecast and became irritating, so I headed for the cover of the woodland here to try and get a bit of shelter and continue birding. Highlights were two Firecrests and four Goldcrests, whilst four Chiffchaffs and 13 Long-tailed Tits were the supporting cast, but nothing more exciting could be located. Overhead, hundreds of Woodpigeons were again on the move - coming from the east then heading out south - but it wasn't practical to do any sort of count today. 

Eventually, I widened my circuit to take in the flooded set-aside area, finding four Stonechats, several Skylarks and a few Pied Wagtails, whilst a flock of seven Siskins flew east and 30 Goldfinch did likewise later. The regular flock of Linnets was here, (it can sometimes number 100), but was perhaps only half that today. A couple of Jays were to and fro with acorns, and by this time the skies looked ominous again. A good soaking on my way back to the car was my reward!

Climping - Atherington this morning: Firecrest (above) and Stonechat (below), whilst (bottom) shows a flock of 32 Linnets, although there were more around.

Bilsham farm: The footpath to the area becomes ever more difficult at present, with heavy farm machinery churning the ground to become a sea of mud, It's not for the faint-hearted, but I donned my waterproof over-trousers and wellies to make another visit. The Black-necked Grebe was still present and showing a little better, as were seven Little Grebes. Two Egyptian Geese were new in, whilst Canada Goose numbers had dropped to ten. Good numbers of Coot remain - my count was 160 - and also present were four Gadwall, three Shoveler and three Tufted Duck.

(above) Black-necked Grebe, (below) Egyptian Geese and (bottom) an absolute sea of mud as a heavy farm vehicle trundles along the track

Tuesday, 22nd October: A bit chilly to start but soon becoming a very calm and pleasant morning of sunshine and light winds W/SW 2-3, until around noon, with grey cloud developing to produce a succession of heavy showers and a strengthening breeze force 4-5.

Elmer Rocks: A calm sea and nothing much moving, excepting a group of around eight auks which were probably Razorbills. The morning highlight however was all about the humble Woodpigeon, with large flocks repeatedly coming from the east along the coast before gaining height then departing SW out to sea. I watched from around 0830 - 1030hrs, during which time I estimated a total of 2550 moving through - though doubtless I missed plenty as it was impossible to keep watching them whilst looking out for other things too! A flock of 50+ Jackdaws and 20 Starlings were also in amongst the flocks at one time.

A look around the set-aside corner was quite good, producing four Chiffchaffs, two Firecrests and a Stonechat, whilst a couple of Siskins, several Meadow Pipits and two Skylarks flew over calling.

Woodpigeon flocks at Elmer; above flying overhead and below, flying well out to sea and heading SW

Firecrests at the set-aside corner hedge

                                           

Stonechat on hedge at the back of the beach

Lidsey area: A fairly brief visit to the WTW area was interrupted by heavy showers, but I logged a Green Sandpiper and 45 Gadwall around the reservoir, with two Grey Wagtails and four Pied Wagtails within the works and eight Chiffchaffs around the periphery hedges.